3Z/ 


B 


LETTERS 


TO     THE 


NHABITANTS 


O     J 


NORTHUMBERLAND 


AND     ITS 


NEIGHBOURHOOD, 

On  Subjects  inter  efting  to  the  AUTHOR 
and  to  THEM. 


PART  I. 


JOSEPH(PRJESTLEY3   L.  L.  D.  r.  R.  s.  &c, 


-Nunquamne  reponam  ? 

Juvenal. 


NORTHUMBERLAND : 
lintcdfor  the  AUTHOR  ly  ANDREW  KENNEDY, 


MDCCXCIX. 


The    CONTENTS, 

LETTER- 1. 

Of  my  Situation  as  an  Alien.        -  Page  * 

LETTER  II. 

Of  my  French  Citizen/hip,  and  French  Principles.       5 

LETTER  III. 

Of  my  Right  to  treat  of  Sub j efts  of  civil  Policy,  and. 
the  Advantages  I  have,  had  for  acquiring  Know- 
ledge of  this  Kind,  1 1 

LETTER  IV. 

Of  what  I  have  done  with  Refpetl  to  the  Politics  of 
this  Country.  16 

LETTER  V. 

Of  the  intercepted  Letters,  and  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution. -  -  22 

LETTER  VI. 

Of  the  Style  of  Ahtfe  in  the  Writings  of  Mr.  Cob- 
bet,  alias  Peter  Porcupine.  -  -  qo 

LETTER  VII. 

Of  my  Religion.  _  ^ 

A  Defence  of  Mr.  Cooper  and  myfelf,  in  anfwer  to 
agrofs  mifrcprefentation  of  an  Application  to  the 
Prefident. 


TO      T  H  £ 

INHABITANTS 

o  r 

NORTHUMBERLAND 

AND     ITS 

NEIGHBOURHOOD. 


LETTER   L 

Of  my  Situation  as  an  Alien. 
My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

WHEN  'any  perfon  becomes  an  object 
of  more  fufpicion  than  he  willies  to  lie  under,  he  na- 
turally  appeals/to  thofe  who  have  had  the  bed  oppor- 
tunity of  knowing  him  ;  and  if  they  be  fatisfied  with 
refpect  to  his  conduct,  it  is  the  bed  means  of  {satisfying 
others.  This  unpleafant  character  of  zfufpettcd  pcrfon, 
hoilile  to  the  country  in  which  I  live,  aggravated  by 
tlie  confideration  of  its  having  afforded  me  protection 
when  I  could  not  live  with  comfort,  or  even  with  fafe- 
ty,  in  my  native  country,  you 'well  know  I  have  borne 
for  feme  time, 

B  I  I 


2  To  the  Inhabitants 

I  think  it  barely  poffiblc  for  a  man  who  has,  in 
the  five  years  that  I  have  been  among  you,  done  fo  little 
of  an  offenfive  nature,  to  have  become  the  obje&  of 
more  fufpicion  and  rancour  than  I  have  incurred.  The 
mofl  popular  writer  in  this  country,  and  who  receives 
the  greateft  countenance  from  the  perfons  in  power, 
lays,  "  I  hope  I  fhali  fee  tKe  malignant  old  Tartuff 
"  of  Northumberland  begging  his  bread  thro'  the  ftreets 
"  of  Philadelphia,  and  ending  his  days  in  the  poor 
"  houie,  without  a  friend  to  clofe  his  eyes."  The  curfe 
of  Ernulphus  in  Triftram  Shandy  does  not  exceed 
this. 

In  order  to  keep  as  clear  as  poilible,  and  as  free 
from  fufpicion,  with  refpeft  to  the  politics  of  this  coun- 
try, I  did  not  chufe  even  to  be  naturalized,  and  the 
Prefident,  to  whom  I  mentioned  my  objection  to  it, 
much  approved  of  my  rcfolution.  But  I  find  that  this 
precaution  has  not  availed  me  any  thing. 

Being  an  alien,  the  Prefident  has  been  again  and  a- 
gain  called  upon  to  carry  into  execution  againft  me  the 
late  aft  of  congrefs  refpefting  aliens.  It  has  heen  faid, 
that  "  if  what  I  have  done  pafles  unnoticed  by  govcrn- 
"  inent,  it  will  operate  as  the  greatcft  encouragement  that 
"  its  enemies  have  ever  received.  They  will  fay,  and 
"  juftly  too,  that  tho'  the  Prefident  is  armed  with  pow- 
"  er,  he  is  afraid  to  make  ufe  of  it,  and  that  the  alien  law 


•  is  a  mere  bug  bear/' 


I  hope,  however,  to  convince  you  that  fucli  an 
order  would  be  cruel  and  unjuft;  for  that  I  am  not  fo 
very  dangerous  a  perfon  as  this  writer  and  his  party 
fuppofe. 

That  I  may  con  duel;  this  addrefs  to  you  with  fomt 
regard  to  method,  I  fhall  firil  confidcr  what  is  object - 
c-1  to  ni2  from  what  /  am,  and  then  from  what  /  hays 
d.:.'M.  After  this  I  fhall  tell  you  what  I  think,  both 

refp^cl  to  your  government  in  general,  and  th« 
iaiilration  of  it,  with  thi  rcaforis  on  which  my 

Oiii-^-:  ; 


Of  Northumberland.  &c.  3 

opinions  are  founded  ;  and  thus  you  will  know  bet- 
ter than  you  can  do  at  prefent  what  to  think  of  me, 
and  of  my  accufcrs  too.  In  doing  this  I  fhall,  with 
Pope, 

pour  out  all  myfelfas  plain, 

As  honeft  Shippen,  or  as  old  Montague. 
In  the  firft  place,  then,  I  am  to  confider  what  is 
objected  to  me  from  what  /  am.  In  fome  refpedis 
neither  praife  nor  blame  will  attach  to  what  a  man  is, 
becaufe  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  have  been  any  other. 
It  will  not,  for  inftance,  be  objected  me,  at  leaft  as  an 
unfavourable  circumftance,  that  I  am  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, even  by  thofe  whofe  grcatefl  boafl  it  is  that  they 
are  native  Americans.  Nor  fhall  I  be  cenfured  for 
faying,  what  I  always  have  done,  and  what  with  great 
truth  I  repeat,  that  I  am  proud  of  my  native  country, 
and  am  as  fincere  a  well  wifhcr  to  it  as  any  American 
can  be  to  this  country.  It  does  not  depend  on  ourfelves, 
but  upon  our  parents,  and  upon  God,  who  afllgns  to 
every  man  his  proper  ftation  and  duty,  where  we  fhall 
be  born. 

But  of  what  importance  is  it  where  I  was  born, 
or  whence  I  came  ;  whether  I  dropped  among  you 
from  the  clouds,  or  rofe  out  of  the  earth.  Here  I  am. 
Here  is  my  family.  Here  is  my  property,  and  every 
thing  elfe  that  can  attach  a  man  to  any  place.  Let  any 
perfon  only  view  my  houfr,  my  garden,  my  library, 
rny  labora'  /,  and  the  other  conveniences  with  which 
I  am  furrcunded,  and  let  him  withal  confider  my  age, 
and  the'little  difpofition  that  I  have  fhewn  to  ramble 
any  whither,  and  fay  whether  any  perfon  among  your- 
felves,  or  in  the  United  States,  could  remove  with  more 
difficulty,  or  with  more  lofs,  than  I  fhould  do.  And 
yet  there  are  great  numbers  who  would  think  no  more 
of  an  order  to  fend  me  out  of  the  country  (which  it  is 
in  the  power  of  the  Prefident  to  give,  and  even  without 
deigning  to  give  me  a  hearing)  than  ii  I  v/as  a  pauper, 

without 


4  Fo  the   Inhabitants 

without  houfe  or  home ;  and  they    would  rejoice  as 
much  in  it  as  if  I  had  been  a  burden  to  the  diftricl:. 

It  is  furely,  alfo,  as  probable  that  I  fhall  have  a 
real  attachment  to  a  country,  and  the  government  of  it, 
to  which  I  came  voluntarily,  and  from  a  preference  of 
them  to  any  other,  as  if  I  had  been  a  native,  and  confe- 
quently  had  had  no  choice  in  the  cafe.  Is  it  fuppofed 
by  my  adverfaries  that  I  have  any  predilection  for 
England,  or  the  government  of  it,  merely  becaufe 
I  was  born  there  ? 

If  I  am  an  alien  myfelf,  my  fons  are  naturalized  ; 
and  muft  not  a  father  feel  for  them  ?  Can  he  be  an 
enemy  to  the  country  to  which  they  belong  ? 

You  will  fmile  to  hear  my  accufer  fay  that  I  live 
in  "  njhcd,  which  I  dignify  with  the  name  a  houfe  ;" 
when  you  know  that,  with  refpect  both  to  convenient 
and  elegance,  it  is  fuperior  to  any  houfe  in  the  county, 
and  excepting  Philadelphia,  and  its  neighbourhood 
there  are  perhaps  few  that  are  equal  to  it  in  the  whole 
State.  It  would  be  a  better  founded  objection  to  fay, 
that  its  appearance  is  too  Ariftocratical  for  the  habita- 
tion of  a  Democrat.  My  library  and  philofophical 
apparatus,  are,  without  boafting,  fuperior  to  any  thing 
of  the  kind  in  this  country,  and  of  much  more  value 
than  my  houfe. 

He  alfo  fays  that,  "  like  Mr.  Vaughan,  I  (hall 
"  leave  this  country  in  dudgeon  the  moment  I  can 


"  do  it 


t  with  a  profpect  of  living  elfewhere  with  fafety 
"  and  in  eafe."  You  who  know  the  provifion  I  have 
made  for  fpending  my  days  with  comfort  here,  are  bet- 
ter judges  of  the  probability  of  this  than  any  perfon  at 
a.  diftance  can  be.  Mr.  Gobbet's  account  of  myfelf, 
and  my  conduct,  in  his  pamphlet  on  th-?  fubjeft  of  my 
emigration,  has  jufl  as  much  of  truth  ini"  as  his  account 
of  my  houfe  and  my  intentions. 

It  is,  however,  rnofl  feriouOy  objected  to  me  that 
I  am  a  French  citizen,   and  have  adopted.  French  prin- 
ciples ; 


Of  Northumbtrland,  &e,  $ 

ciples ;  and  in  the  opinion  of  many  perfons  4thofe  prin- 
ciples are  truly  diabolical,  fo  that  I  might  as  well  have 
come  to  you  from  the  infernal  regions.  This  I  feel  to  be 
dangerous  ground  ;  but  having  undertaken  to  give 
you  the  beft  account  that  I  can  of  what  I  am,  I  (hall, 
if  you  will  have  the  courage  to  follow  me,  venture  upon 
it  in  my  next  Letter.  In  the  mean  time,  I  ana, 

My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

Your  fmcerely, 

J.   PRIESTLEY. 


LETTER  II. 

Of  French  Citizen/hip,  and  French  Principles.     • 
My  Triends  and  Neighbours, 

IN  my  laft  I  promifcd  to confider  what 
is  obje&cd  to  me  as  a  Citizen  of  France.  This  I  find 
to  be  an  accufation  of  a  very  fcrious  nature.  For  on 
tills  account  alone  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  I  rnuft  be 
an  enemy  to  this  country,  which  for  fome  time  pafl  has 
been  in  a  ftate  nearly  bordering  on  open  hoftility  with 

France.      Mr.  H confiders  it  as  a  fufficient  proof 

of  Mr.  Cooper's  being  inimical  to  this  country,  that, 
on  a  late  occafion,  he  was  fuppofed  to  have  a&ed  in 
concert  with  me  ;  as  if  I  was  not  only  avowedly  hof- 
tile  to  this  country  myfelf,  but  muft  ncctflarily  com- 
municate 


f  To  the   Inhabitants 

municate  the  fame  hoftile  difpofition  to  all  perfons  who 
have  any  communication  with  me, 

But,  my  friends,  hear  a  little  reafon  on  this  fub- 
je&.  You  have  heard  a  great  deal  that  is  not  realbn, 
but  mere  paffionate  declamation  upon  it ;  and  efpeci- 
ally  attend  to  the  circumltance  of  the  time  in  which  I 
was  made  a  citizen  of  France,  and  the  occafion  of  it. 
It  was  fimply  as  a  well  known  friend  of  general  liber- 
ty, in  confcqucnce  of  my  having  written  in  defence  of 
the  liberties  of  America,  as  well  as  thofe  of  France, 
and  as  one  who  hadfuffered  in  the  caufe. 

Conficler  alfo  that  at  that  time  there  wasnofufpici- 
of  a  war  between  England  and  France.  The  French 
king  was  then  living,  the  conflitution  of  France  was 
then  reduced  to  a  limited  monarchy  refembling  that  of 
England,  and  other  Englifhmen,  and  among  them 
Mr.  Wilberforcc,  a  faft  friend  of  Mr.  Pitt,  were  made 
citizens  of  France.  He  was  diftinguifhed  in  this  man- 
ner on  account  of  his  taking  the  lead  in  the  meafures 
that  were  adopted  for  the  abolition  of  the  flave  trade. 
It  was  alfo,  I  believe,  at  the  fame  time  that  your  Gene- 
ral Wafhington  received  the  fame  compliment ;  and 
furely  you  do  not  for  this  fufpecl  him  of  being  your 
enemy. 

In  thefe  circumftanccs  it  is  very  poflible  that  any 
native  American  might  not  have  thought  it  at  all  dif- 
reputable  to  have  been  made  a  citizen  of  France,  ob- 
noxious as  the  character  happens  to  be  at  prefent.  I 
certainly  confider  it  as  an  honour  to  me,  and  think  that 
I  have  more  reafon  to  be  proud  of  it  than  of  being  a' 
native  of  any  country  whatever.  I.-wifh  I  had  done 
more  to  deferve  it. 

But  it  is  alleged  by  thofe  who  wifh  to  make  the 
mod  of  every  circumflance  that  can  be  conftrued  to 
my  prejudice,  that,  befides  being  axitizen  of  France, 
I  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Conventional  AflTembly, 
appointed  for  the  purpofc  of  framing  a  new  conflitu- 


Of Northumberland,  &c.  7 

tion  for  that  deteftcd  country  and  this  implies  a  nearer 
relation  to  it.  To  this,  alfo,  I  plead  guilty.  I  was 
elected  in  a  great  number  of  the  departments  of  France, 
and  was  informed  that  I  Hiould  have  been  elc&ed  in 
many  more,  but  that  it  was  well  underftood  that  I  cer- 
tainly fhould  be  in  others.  I  mould  have  been  eleft- 
ed  for  the  department  of  Paris,  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  oppolition  of  Robefpierre,  who  very  properly  ob- 
jected to  it,  as  not  fit  for  any  foreigner.  I  faw  the  ho- 
nourable propofal  in  the  fame  light.  I  was  pleafed 
with  the  compliment,  but  declined  the  office ;  and 
what  could  the  proudeft  native  American  have  done 
more  ?  Thefe  circumflances,  I  am  willing  to  think, 
will  be  deemed  to  operate  as  fome  extenuation  of  my 
offence. 

Confrder,  alfo,  the  change  that  has  taken  place 
with  refpecl  to  opinions,  as  well  as  other  things,  in  the 
lafl  five  years  among  yourielves.  When  I  came  to  this 
country,  in  the  year  1794,  I  found  the  people  in  ge- 
neral in  unifon  with  me  on  this  fubje&.  On  all  public 
occafions,  Succefs  to  the.  arms  of  France  was  never  o- 
mitted  among  the  toads  that  were  drank.  Complaints 
were  at  that  time  univerfally  made  againft  the  iniblence 
and  injuftice  of  the  Englim,  and  even  an  open  rupture 
with  England  was  generally  expected.  There  was  no 
complaint  of  French  principles  then,  tho'  they  were  the 
fame  that  they  are  now.  They  were  univerfally  con- 
iidered  as  the  principles  of  general  liberty,  and  the 
fame  with  American  principles,  that  is  republican,  in 
oppofition  to  monarchical.  The  change,  therefore,  that 
has  taken  place  is  not  in  me,  but  in  the  people  here; 
and  confideiingthat  old  men  do  not  eafily  change  their 
fentirncnts,  or  attachments,  if  I  muft  change,  you  muft 
allow  me  mere  time,  and  this  I  cannot  pretend  to  fix  ; 
but  I  mall  be  as  expeditious  as  I  can. 

If  by  French  principles  be  meant  the  principles  of 
the  French  government,  I  do  not  fee  where  they  differ 


§  Jb  the  Inhabitants 

in  any  thing  that  is  cflential  from  thoft  of  your  own. 
In  neither  of  the  two  conftitutions  are  there  any  here- 
ditary honours  or  powers.  All  offices  arc  ele&ive,  and 
for  a  moderate  time.  In  both  there  are  three  diftinft 
powers,  an  executive,  a  fenate,  and  a  houfe  of  repre- 
fentatives;  tho'  not  called  by  the  fame  names,  or  con- 
nected in  quite  the  fame  manner  ;  and  in  ntither  of  the 
countries  is  there  any  form  of  religion  eftablifhed  by 
law, 

The  great  outline  of  the  two  conftitutions  is  there- 
fore the  very  fame.  In  feme  other  things  they  differ, 
as  in  their  executive  there  arejfo/^perfons,  and  in  yours 
only  one.  But  which  of  them  is  beft  adapted  to  anfwer 
its  end  experience  only 'can  decide.  Tho' each  has  its 
peculiar  advantages,  as  in  a  future  letter  I  may  fhew,  and 
I  am  difpofed  to  give  the  preference  to  that  of  this 
country  ;  yet  as  far  as  I  can  fee,  either  of  them  may 
do  very  well,  and  whatever  is  found  to  be  inconvenient 
in  either  of  them  may  be  changed  at  a  proper  time.  So 
great  an  agreement  as  this  might  be  expected  to  lay  a 
foundation  for  friendmip  ,  efpecially  as  the  French  na- 
tion, with  whatever  view  (which  it  does  not  behove  any 
date  to  fcrutinize  very  narrowly)  gave  you  material  af- 
liftance  in  aGTer'ting  your  liberties,  and  then  followed 
your  example  in  afferting  their  own ;  changing  their 
monarchical  government  for  a  republican  one. 

Thernofi  opprobious  appellation  with  which  thofe 
who  call  thernfelves  Federalifts  reproach  us,  as  a  confe- 
quence  of  our  adopting  French  principles,  is  that  of 
democrats.  Democracy,  they  feem  to  think,  the  greateft 
of  all  crimes,  and  the  perfons  chargeable  with  it  not  fit 
to  be  tolerated  in  any  regular  government.  But  my 
friends,  pray  confider  what  democracy  really  means.  It 
Signifies  nothing  more  than  the  government  of  the  pcoplt, 
or  a  conftitution  in  which  the  people  chufe  all  their 
inagiflrates,  and  in  which  the  roagiihates  are  accounta- 
ble to  the  people,  or  their  reprefcntatives,  for  their  con - 

duel 


Of  Northumberland,  (3c.  g 

duct  in  office,  which  is  exactly  the  eonftitution  of 
this  country.  Every  man,  therefore,  who  is  no<  ?  de- 
mocrat is  an  enemy  to  this  constitution.  What  (Iran^e 
and  arbitrary  meanings  our  enemies  may  annex  to  this 
word  I  cannot  tell,  nor  do  I  believe  they  know  thern- 
felves;  but  I  have  not  yet  met  with  any  democrat  who 
ufed  the  word  in  any  other  fenfe  than  that  which  I  have 
now  given  to  it. 

Our  enemies  will  tell  you  that  by  democracy  we 
mean  a  (late  of  anarchy  arid  confufion,  a  government 
by  mobs,  and  an  equalization  of  all  property.  But 
can  any  of  you  really  believe  that  a  perfon  of  my  fmall 
property  would  wifh  for  fuch  a  ftate  as  this,  or  that  a 
perfon  of  my  age  would  like  to  fcramble  among  the 
ftrongeft  of  you  for  what  I  could  get.  If  that  was  to 
be  the  cafe,  I  mould  expect  to  be  very  foon  turned  out 
of  my  houie,  and  left  to  ftarve  among  you.  If  you 
can  be  made  to  believe  this  .of  us,  you  are  eafily  impof- 
ed  upon  indeed,  and  might  be  made  to  fear  left  the  iky 
fhouldfall,  that  fire  might  be  fet  to  your  river,  or  that 
an  army  of  French  canibals  may  crofs  the  Atlantic  in  a 
fleet  of  balloons,  land  on  the  blue  mountain,  and  eat  up 
all  your  children  for  their  firft  breakfaft.  For  thefe  are 
not  more  improbable  than  the  other. 

As  by  democracy  we  mean  a  government  of  the 
people,  and  not  of  the  mob,  fo  by  equality  we  mean  an 
equality  of  rights,  and  of  power  both  to  acquire  pro- 
perty, and  to  keep  it ;  the  equality  that  actually  ex- 
ifls  in  this  country.  This  has  been  explained  fo  often 
that  our  enemies  muft  know  it  to  be  our  whole  mean- 


ing. 


You  are  angry  at  the  French  for  their  captures  of 
your  fhips,  as  you  were  before  at  the  Englifh  on  the 
fame  account,  and  I  believe  you  had  reafon  in  both 
cafes.  But  do  not  lay  the  blame  on  French  or  Englifh 
principles,  but  on  the  adminiflration  of  the  countries. 
The  French  themfelves  are  far  from  approving  of  the 

G  conduct 


10  To  the   Inhabitants 

conduft  of  all  their  rulers,  and  ftill  lefs  of  all  that  arc 
employed  by  them.  Why  then  muft  I  be  fuppofed  to 
approve  of  all  the  attrocities  of  Robcfpierre,  with 
which  I  am  continually  charged,  merely  becaufe  I  am 
an  adopted  citizen  of  France.  I  condemn  them  as 
much  as  you  can  do,  and  hope  they  will  not  occur  a- 
gain.  I  find,  hoxvever,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  fome, 
I  muft  bear  the  blame  of  all  that  has  been  done  in 
France,  even  fince  I  have  had  no  communication  with 
that  country,  or  knowledge  of  what  paffes  in  it,  and 
perhaps  of  all  the  crimes  that  may  be  committed  there 
after  I  am  dead. 

But  they  who  are  the  loudeft  in  their  exclamati- 
on again  ft  French  principles,  appear  to  me  to  know 
nothing  of  any  principles  of  government.  For  it  is 
impofTibie  to  reprobate  the  general  principles  of  the 
French  government,  and  not  include  thofe  of  the  A- 
merican  government  in  the  fame  cenfure.  It  may, 
therefore,  be  fairly  prefumed  that  they  are  diffatisfied 
with  this  government,  and  wifh  to  overturn  it.  This 
would  give  me  the  greateft  concern.  I  came  hither 
from  the  preference  I  gave  to  it ;  and  any  material 
change  in  it  would  certainly,  old  as  I  am,  drive  me 
away  again.  With  your  immortal  Franklin,  I  fay 
Where  liberty  is,  there  is  my  country.  Of  the  American 
cpnftitution,  I  therefore  fay,  EJlo  perpetua. 


am. 


&c. 


LETTER 


Of  Northumltrland,  &e ,  1 1 


LETTER   III. 

Of  my  Right  to  treat  of  Sub j efts  of  civil  Policy,  and  the 
Advantages  I  have  had  for  acquiring  Knowledge  of 
this  Kind. 

My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

HAVING  confidered  what  is  objeaed 
to  me  on  account  of  what  I  am,  I  proceed  to  what  I 
have  done ;  and  indeed  this  is  of  much  more  impor- 
tance than  the  other.  For  what  does  it  fignify  what 
any  man  is,  or  what  character  he  fuftains,  if  he  do 
nothing  in  confequence  of  it.  But  it  is  urged  againft 
me  that  I  have  not  been  an  idle  fpe6tator  of  what  is 
paffing ;  for  that  I  actually  bufy  myfelf  in  the  poli- 
tics of  the  country,  and  with  thefe  it  is  faid  I  have 
nothing  to  do. 

Before  I  inform  you  what  I  have  done,  or  what  I 
have  not  done,  give  me  leave  to  obferve  that,  tho'  I  am 
an  alien,  I  cannot  allow  that  I  have  no  right  to  have 
an  opinion  with  refpedfc  to  the  government  of  the  coun- 
try in  which  I  live,  or  to  exprefs  my  opinion,  in  words 
or  in  writing,  if  I  be  fo  difpofed. 

Can  any  man,  whofe  pcrfon  and  property  are  in 
any  country,  be  wholly  unconcerned  about  the  con- 
duel  of  its  affairs.  Tho'  a  man  may  be  a  merepajjen~ 
ger  in  a  fhip,  muft  he  be  content  to  fee  it  fuffer,  or 
fink,  and  not  give  his  opinion  how  it  might  be  faved, 
becaufe  he  is  not  the  owner,  the  captain,  or  any  officer 
on  board  acting  under  him.  I  have  heard,  indeed,  of 
a  man  who  when  he  was  alarmed  with  the  cry  of  fire  in 
thehoufe  in  which  he  was  fleeping,  faid  "what  is  that  to 
me,  I  am  only  a  lodger.  But  his  conduct  is  not  gene- 
rally thought  worthy  oi  imitation. 

When 


i  j  To  the   Inhabitants 

When  Dean  Swift,  who  was  an  Englifhman  re- 
fiding  in  Ireland,  wrote  about  the  politics  of  that  coun- 
try, and  by  his  Drapier's  Letters  prevented  the  circu- 
lation of  Wood's  halfpence,  was  there  any  complaint 
of  his  interference  on  account  of  his  being  a  foreigner  ? 
And  had  I  done  any  thing  pleafmg  to  thofe  who  now 
complain  of  my  conduct,  their  complaints  would  not 
have  been  heard.  Do  the  fame  perfons  complain  of 
the  writings  of  Peter  Porcupine,  who,  as  an  alien,  Hands 
in  the  fame  predicament  with  myfelf  ?  Had  I,  like 
him  written  any  thing  in  praife  of  the  meafures  of  ad- 
miniftration,  I  might  have  done  it  without  any  cenfure, 
as  well  as  he. 

On  the  principles  of  my  accufers,  had  I  difco- 
vered  a  certain  method  of  preventing  or  curing  the 
yellow  fever,  or  of  deftroying  the  Heflian  fly,  I  muft 
not  have  divulged  it  becaufe  I  am  an  alien.  But  if  I 
be  at  liberty  to  do  good,  it  muft  be  what  I  myfelf  deem 
to  be  good,  and  in  my  own  way  alfo,  and  with  refpect 
to  all  fubjects  indifcriminately,  that  of  politics  not  ex- 
cepted.  Another  muft  not  think,  judge,  or  act,  for 
me. 

If  I  had  nothing  at  flake  in  the  country  (and  I 
have  much  more  than  thoufands  of  native  Ameri- 
cans) is  it  poflible  for  a  man  to  fee  any  company,  in 
which,  from  the  prefent  interefting  ftate  of  public  af- 
fairs, there  is  hardly  any  other  topic  of  converfation 
than  politics,  or  read  your  new fpapers,  in  which  topics 
of  this  kind  are  continually  difcuflcd,  and  form  no  o- 
pmion  about  them  ;  and  if  he  have  an  opinion,  can 
he  forbear  to  let  his  acquaintance  know  what  that  opini- 
on is.  when  perhaps  they  are  inquifitive,  and  wifh  to 
know  it. 

I  have  another  apology  to  make  for  the  conduct 
that  is  objected  to  me.  Having  never  had  much  ca- 
pacity for  the  more  active  purfuits  of  life,  I  had  from 
very  early  years  a  turn  for  Jpeculaiion  on  every  fubject 

that 


Of  Northumberland,  &e.  13 

that  has  become  before  me ;  and  they  have  been  very 
various,  as  my  writings  will  fhew.  Among  them  po- 
litics, in  fuch  a  country  as  England,  could  not  be  ex- 
cluded, any  more  than  religion,  or  philofophy.  And 
being  now  old,  and  of  courfe  lefs  active,  I  am  more 
difpofed  to  think,  and,  having  more  experience,  I 
prefume  I  am  rather  better  qualified  for  it  than  e- 
ver.  Have  the  candour,  therefore,  to  bear  with  my 
thinking,  and  with  my  talking  and  writing  too,  as. 
you  do  with  refpecl;  to  other  old  men,  tho'  you  mould 
be  of  opinion  that  what  I  think,  fpeak,  or  write,  is 
not  fo  much  to  the  purpofe  as  you  could  wifh  it  to 
be. 

As  I  own  I  am  fometimes  difpofed  to  think, 
and  to  fpeak  on  the  fubjeft  of  politics,  as  well  as  on 
other  topics,  you  muft  excufc  my  vanity,  if  I  imagine 
that  I  am  in  fome  meafure  not  unqualified  for  it. 
At  leaft  I  have,  in  the  courfe  of  a  very  various  life,  had 
the  means  of  acquiring  fome  political  knowledge. 

I  was  feven  years  in  the  family  of  the  Marquis  of 
Lanfdown,  which  was  altogether  a  political  houfe, 
where  I  daily  faw,  and  converfed  with,  the  firfl  poli- 
ticians not  only  of  England,  but  from  all  parts  of  Eu- 
rope. And,  independent  of  that  connexion,  I  have 
had  more  or  lefs  intercourfe  with  moft  of  the  political 
living  characters  whofe  names  you  have  heard  menti- 
oned, and  with  many  that  you  have  not  heard  of. 
Befijdes  the  principal  politicians  of  England,  both  in 
and  out  of  the  miniftry,  I  was  perfonally  acquainted 
with  fome  of  the  moft  eminent  in  France,  both  be- 
fore and  fince  the  revolution ;  as  Mr.  Turgot,  Mr. 
Neckar,  Mr.  Briflbt,  Mr.  Pethion,  and  the  Due  de 
Rochfocault,  who  was  my  conftant  correfpondent 
from  the  time  that  I  was  in  France  to  that  of  his  un- 
fortunate death. 

I  am   fenlible  that  what  I  am  now  faying  will  have 
.tie  airof  boailing.     But  if,  as  Solomon  fays,  there  be 

a  tims 


i>  To  the  Inhabitants 

g  time  for  all  things,  my  prefent  fituation  may  juftify 
it  in  me,  as  a  firnilar  one  did  in  the  apoftle  Paul. 

Tho'  niy  writings,  as  you  may  fee  by  the  catalo- 
gue of  them,  relate  chiefly  to  theology,  philofopiiy, 
or  general  literature,  fome  of  them  are  political,  efpe- 
cially  my  EJfay  on  thefirft  principles  of  government  and 
my  Lcttures  on  Hijlory  and  General  policy,  which  are 
read  in  fome  of  your  colleges.  As  well  for  the  compo- 
fition  of  this  work,  as  to  enlarge  my  knowledge  of  the 
fubjecl:,  there  are  few  political  publications  of  much 
note  that  J  have  not  read,  and  with  feveral  of  the 
later  and  the  moft  eminent  writers  on  fubje&s  of  po- 
licy I  was  perfonally  acquainted,  as  the  Abbe  Raynal, 
and  Dr.  Adam  Smith,  the  author  of  the  celebrated 
treatife  on  the  wealth  of  nations.  If,  therefore,  I  have 
no  knowledge  of  the  fubjecl:  of  politics,  it  has  not  been 
for  want  of  the  means,  or  the  opportunity  of  ac- 
quiring it. 

1  mould  hardly  have  been  thought  of  as  a  pro- 
per perfon  for  a  member  of  the  conventional  aflembly 
of  France,  chofen  in  what  are  reckoned  the  beft  times 
of  their  revolution,  for  the  exprels  purpofe  of  forming 
a  new  conflitution  of  government  for  that  country, 
if  I  had  not  had  (ome  character  for  knowledge  of  this 
kind.  My  knowledge  of  theology,  or  chemiftry,  would 
not  have  recommended  me  to  that  fituation. 

Your  Prefident,  with  whom  I^arn^well  acquainted 
when  he  was  ambaflador  in  England,  and  with  whom 
I  correfponded  from  that  time  till  he  was  advanced  to 
his  prefent  fituation,  will  excuTe  me  if  on  this  occalion 
I  quote  his  authority.  Having  in  one  of  my  publica- 
tions declared  my  preference  of  one  of  his  political 
maxims  to  that  which  was  maintained  by  Dr.  Franklin, 
he  fays  in  one  of  his  letters,  that  he  confiders  it  as  "  a 
"  compliment  which  he  holds  very  precious/3  With  Dr. 
Franklin,  who  was  as  much  a  political  as  a  philofophical 
character,  I  was  intimately  acquainted  many  years. 


p 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  i5 

His  letters  to  me  would  have  made  a  very  large  vo- 
lume. Three  of  them  he  has  publifhed  in  his  mif- 
cellaneous  works. 

Notwithftanding  thefe  advantages  which  I  have 
had  for  public  information,  and  the  obfervation  and 
experience  of  a  long  life,  many  of  the  young  men  of 
this  country,  being  native  Americans,  think  them- 
felves,  I  doubt  not,  much  wifer  than  I  pretend  to  be, 
and  will  make  very  light  of  any  opinions  of  mine.  Be 
it  fo.  It  is  in  the  order  of  Providence  that  fucceeding 
generations  mould  grow  wifer  than  the  preceding  ones  ; 
and  if  theyoungeft  of  the  native  Americans  will  teach 
me  any  thiug,  I  fhall  not  think  rnyfelf  too  old  to  learn. 

The  great  principles  of  found  policy  are  not, 
in  my  opinion,  above  the  comprehenfion  of  young 
men,  and  even  fuch  as  have  not  had  the  advantage  of 
a  learned  education.  The  circuniftances  that  contri- 
bute to  the  flourifhing  liate  of  a  country,  which  is  the 
proper  object  of  all  civil  policy,  are  eafily  known,  and 
the  operation  of  them  in  all  particular  cafes  would  be 
as  eafily  underflood,  did  not  prejudice  and  paflion  mif- 
lead  men's  judgments.  But  in  confequence  of  this, 
the  fchemes  of  fome  of  the  moft  profound  politicians 
have  brought  nations  to  the  very  brink  of  ruin.  What 
is  it  that  has  been  effected  by  the  great  politicians  of 
Europe  in  the  laft  century,  befides  involving  their  ref- 
peftive  countries  iaa  flateof  perpetual  war  ?  When 
has  peace  been  made,  but  when  the  people  werelb 
exhaufted  that  war  could  not  have  been  carried  on  any 
longer  ?  And  in  confequence  of  thefe  violent  exerti- 
ons, are  they  not  all  loaded  with  debts  which  neither 
the  prefent  nor  any  future  generation  will  ever  be  able 
to  pay,  and  which  muft  haften  the  period  of  bankrupt- 
cy, and  revolution,  which  they  fo  much  dread.  Can 
you  contemplate  all  this  and  call  it  wifdom  ? 

Since,  however,  the  fubjec~t  of  politics  has  not  in 
itfelf  any  greater  difficulty  attending  it  than  even  young 

men 


i6  To  the  Inhabitants 

men  may  furmount;  and  fince  it  is  chiefly  pajjion  that 
miflcads  men's  judgment  with  refpeft  to  it,  it  is  furely 
the  lefs  prefumption  in  old  men,  whofe  paffions  are  ge- 
nerally more  under  the  command  of  reafon  than  thofe 
of  young  men,  to  think  and  write  upon  it. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  IV. 


Of  what   I  have  done  with   Refpecl  to   the  Politics  of 
this  Country. 

My  Friends,  and  Neighbour. 


THO'  I  have  not  been  prevented  by 
any  peculicar  difficulty  that  there  is  in  the  fubjecl  of 
Politics,  or  by  the  fuppofcd  impropriety  of  an  alien  at- 
tending to  it,  from  taking  a  part  in  your  political 
differences,  I  have  had  other  views  and  purfuits;  and 
having  had  much  leifure  in  this  country,  I  have  done 
fo  much  in  other  ways,  that  I  think  I  can  convince  you 
that  I  cannot  poffibly  have  been  that  bufy,  intriguing, 
and  dangerous  politician,  that  I  am  reprefented  to  have 
been. 

Of  my  publications  in  England,  which  I  believe 
are  about  an  hundred,  very  few  relate  to  politics.  My 
publications  in  this  country  are  not  lefs  than  twelve, 
all  theological  or  philofophical,  befides  three  articles 
on  the  Tranf actions  of  the  Society  at  Philadelphia^  and 
eleven  that  are  printed  in  the  Medical  Rcpofitory  at 
New-York  ;  three  more  are  fent,  but  are  not  yet 

printed  ; 


Of  Northumberland^   6?c.  17 

printed  ;  and  I  have  four  or  five  articles  ready  to  fend 
to  the  Society  at  Philadelphia.  * 

Befides  thefe  works,  I  have  juft  printed  in  this 
place  a  large  volume  intitled  a  Comparijon  of  the  Injti- 
mtions  of  Mcfes  with  thof:  of  the  Hindoos  and  other  an- 
cient nations.  I  have  competed  a  Continuation  of  my 
Church  hijtory  to  the  prefcnk  time,  which  will  make  fix 
volumes  8vo.  and  about  as  many  of  Nvtes  on  the  Old 
and  New  Tejtamcnt,  part  indeed  compofed  in  England, 
but  deftrqyed  at  the  riots  in  Bermingham,  and  recornpo- 
fed  here.  You  will  ple'afe  to  obfeive  that  in  merely 
writing  much,  there  is  no  other  merit  than  that  ofinduf- 
try]  a  quality  which  I  believe  my  greateft  enemies 
will  allow  me. 

Tho'  I  have  written  fo  much  fince  I  have  refided 
in  this  place,  I  generally  fpend  the  great  eft  part  of  my 
time  in  my  laboratory,  making  experiments,  the  objecl: 
of  which  is  not  gain,  but  the  extenfion  of  natural 
knowledge.  Judge  then  yourfclves  whether  it  has 
been  pr.ffiblc  for  me  to  have  given  much  attention  to 
the  peculiar  politics  of  this  country. 

It  is  true,  as  I  have  obferved,  that  I  could  not 
help  forming  fome  opinion  on  fubjccls  that  are  conti- 
nuity before  me  ;  and  I  will  not  deny  that  it  accords 
better  with  my  former  principles  and  habits  of  think- 
ing to  take  part  with  thofc  who  disapprove  of  the  late 
meafures  of  your  government,  and  are  generally  cal- 
led Democrats,  than  with  thofc  who  call  tbfmfelvcs 
Fcderalijis,  whofe  language  and  fentiments  appear  to 

D  me 

*  In  philofophy  I  am  combating  the  principles  of  the 
French  chemifity  ,-  and  as  every  thing  that  is  French  is  now  un- 
popular, the  Ft  d  era  lifts  may  be  expected  to  wifii  me  fucccfs. 
Of  this  however  I  arn  as  confident  as  the  allied  powers  are  thst 
they  (hall  conquer  France,  and  overturn  its  repubHean  govern- 
ment, tho' at  prefent  almoft  all  chemifts  in  this  country,  "as 
well  as  in  Europe;,  ure  flrongly  attached  to  it. 


18  To  the  Inhabitants 

me  to  be  very  congenial  to  thofc  of  the  friends  of  mo- 
narchy, and  high  maxims  of  government,  in  England. 
My  political  opinions,  however,  I  have  not  been  for- 
ward to  obtrude  on  others ;  and  if  the  private  opinions 
of  one  man,  and  that  an  alien,  can  make  any  country, 
it  cannot  fland  long. 

I  do  not  know,  nor  have  I  any  reafon  to  believe, 
that  any  one  of  you  has  changed  his  opinion  in  politics 
in  confequence  of  my  refidcnce  among  you.  Whate- 
ver be  your  fentiments  in  this  refpecl:,  they  are  wholly 
independent  of  me.  You  alfo  well  know,  that  my 
opinions,  have  had  no  more  influence  on  any  of  my 
countrymen  in  this  place  than  they  have  had  on  your- 
felvcs. 

Tho'  wl.  it  I  have  done  in  theology  and  philo- 
fophy  may  feem  fufficicnt  to  have  occupied  me  wholly, 
I  will  now  gratify  my  enemies  by  informing  them, 
that  notwithstanding  this,  I  have  actually  found  time, 
both  to  fay  and  to  do  fomething  with  refpecl;  to  the 
politics  of  the  day,  and  fomething  which  without  my 
own  voluntary  confeflion,  they  could  not  have  found 
out.  In  the  Aurora,  that  receptable,  as  it  is  confider- 
ed  for  all  feditious  and  treafonable  matter,*  for  Feb. 
26  and  27,  1788,  there  is  an  article  of  mine,  which  will 
be  thought  to  be  of  a  fufpicious  complexion,  figned 
a  Quaker  in  politics.  But  to  lave  them  the  trouble 

of 

;  Tho'  I  fee  almofl  all  the  newfpapers  that  are  printed  in 
Philadelphia,  it  is  to  this  that  I  give  fhe  preference.  In  En- 
gland I  was  a  reader  of  the  Morning  Chronicle,  which  was  then 
patronized  by  the  friends  of  liberty  in  that  country  ;  but  I  do 
not  think  that,  in  its  beft  times,  it  was  fuperior  to  the  Aurora 
with  refpeft  tojuft  fentiment/valmblc  information,  or  good 
compofition.  The  Federalifts  of  this  country,  who  feldom,  I 
believe,  read  this  paper,  mud  be  ignorant  of  many  things  that 
it  brh.ivcs  them  to  knnw.  Having  faid  this,  I  mud  expetl  to 
be  made  anfwerablc  for  every  thing  that  ever  has  been,,  or  ever 
will  be  printed  in  the  Aurora. 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  /       19 

of  looking  for  it,  I  (hall  reprint  the  whole  of  it  at  the 
end  of  thefe  Letters.  This,  however,  is  all  that  I  have 
-written  till  the  prefent  time. 

But  tho'  I  have  written  nothing  more  than  this 
fingle  article  myfelf;  yet  approving  of  Mr.  Cooper's  Ef- 
fays  in  your  Gazette,  I  contributed  one  dollar  towards 
printing  a  few  extra  copies  of  one  of  them,  before  it  was 
known  they  would  all  be  reprinted  in  the  form  of  a  pam- 
phlet. However,  to  make  amends  for  this  fault,  and 
to  fhcw  my  impartiality,  and  my  defire  to  promote  the 
freedifcuffion  of  fubjetts  of  importance  to  the  commu- 
nity, I  here  promifc  that  if  any  Federalift  will  give  as 
comprehenfive  and  as  diipaflionate  a  view  of  what  they 
have  to  advance  in  iupport  of  the  late  meafures,  as  Mr. 
Cooper  has  don?,  againft  them,  I  will  give  another  dol- 
lar towards  that  publication.  I  fear,  however,  it  will 
not  be  in  the  power  of  Mr.  Cooper's  antagonift  to  ful- 
fil the  conditions  on  which  I  make  this  promife.  Per- 
fbns  writing  in  fupport  of  any  government,  bcim;* 
fure  of  protection,  if  not  of  reward,  are  apt  to  indulge 
thernlelves  in  intemperate  language,  as  a  mark  of  their 
zeal  in  the  caufe  ;  while  the  diead  of  penal  laws  natu- 
rally makes  the  oppugner  of  them  timid,  and  confe- 
quently  more  guarded  and  decent  in  his  language, 
mindful  of  the  Latin  adage,  leniter  in  mudo  fortitcr  in 
re. 

The  writer  who  fliles  himfelf  MaJJachutenfis,  gives 
me  more  merit  than  I  am  entitled  to  with  refpecl  to  Mr. 
Cooper's  publication,  when  he  fays  that  "  I  took  great 
"  pains  to  circulate  it,  that  I  travelled  thro'  the  country 
"  for  the  purpofe,  and  that  I  was,  in  fa  61,  the  patron 
of  it."  The  fa 61  was,  that  I  never  faw  any  of  the  pa- 
pers till  after  their  publication,  and  all  that  I  did  with 
refpecl;  to  the  circulation  of  the  extra  copies  was  to  car- 
ry a  bundle  of  them  from  the  printer's  to  the  houfe  of 
a  brother  democrat  in  this  town,  which  might  as  well 
have  been  done  by  the  printer's  boy. 

I  do 


2o  To  the    Inhabitants 

I  do  not.  however,  fay  this  to  exculpate  myfelf 
from  any  crime.  For  I  confider  both  the  writing  of 
the  letters  in  qucftion,  and  the  circulation  of  them,  as 
praife  worthy  actions.  Maflachutenfis  calls  Mr.  Coop- 
er an  Englifli  Jacobin,  but  this  is  merely  a  term  of  re- 
proach. The  principles  that  Mr.  Cooper  has  main- 
tained are  clearly  thofe  of  the  American  conftituuon. 
Whoever  denies  this,  either  does  not  underiland  thofe 
principles,  or  is  an  enemy  to  them  ;  and  as  the  fubjecT: 
is  fufficiently  intelligible,  the  latter  is  the  more  proba- 
ble iuppolition  of  the  two. 

The  paragraphs  which  this  writer  fe]e6ls,  as  parti- 
cularly obnoxious,  I  entirely  approve.  For  certainly 
the  man  who  fhould  wifh  to  extend  the  power  of  the 
Prefident  of  this  country  beyond  the  bounds  prefcribed 
by  the  conflitution,  could  not  take  better  fteps  to  gain 
his  end  than  thofe  that  are  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Copper. 
At  the  fame  time,  it  is  not  denied,  nor  does  Mr. 
Cooper  deny  it.  that  the  fame  things  might  be  done 
from  other  motives*  But,  as  he  obferves,  we  have 
not  lh:  .  :  r>  do  with  men'*  motives,  but  only  with  the  tcn- 
dtticyof  their  me  a  fur  cs  ;  and  of  this  we  muft  form  our 
judgment  from  confidering  their  nature,  and  the  cir- 
cumilances  of  the  cafe. 

For  what  I  did  in  this  bufinefs  Maffachuten- 
fis,  who  confidcrs  it  as  a  crime  of.  a  peculiarly  hei- 
nous nature,  lays  ':  I  fiand  charged  before  the  great 
<:  tribunal  of  the  American  people  !"  I  do  not,  howe- 
ver, confider  an  anonymous  writer  in  a  newfpaper  as 
the  American  people.  But  whenever  this  people,  whom 
I  refpecl,  ma!!  arraign  any  part  of  my  conduct  by  their 
authorized  officers,  in  due  form,  I  (hall  be  ready  to 
meet  the  accufation.  In  the  mean  time,  thefe  letters 
may  be  fufficient. 

That  I  may  leave  nothing  on  rny  confcience  rela- 
ting to  this  fubjeft  of  what  I  have  done,  I  will  farther 
coniefs  that,  averfe  as  I  generally  am  to  public  meet- 
ings, 


Of  Northumberland,   &c,  21 

ings,  which  are  often  attended  with,  much  noife,  to  which, 
from  the  habits  of  a  fludious  Jife  I  am  much  averfe,  I 
wss  prevailed  upon  to  join  in  two  celebrations  of  tht 
4th  of  July,  one  of  them  two  years  ago,  in  a  grove 
near  this  town,  and  this  year  in  another  near  Sun  bury, 
at  both  of  which  republican  or  democratical  toafts  were 
drank,  and  where  the  late  meafures  of  admimfhation 
were  not  p  railed. 

If  I  could  think  that  it  would  avail  me  any  thing, 
I  might  perhaps  plead  that,  if  I  have  done  mifchief  in 
feme  refpecls,  I  have  done  good  in  others.  But  with 
thole  who  have  no  knowledge  beyond  that  of  the  po- 
litics of  the  day,  and  a  very  fuperricial  knowledge  even 
of  them,  pounds  of  merit  of  any  other  kind  would  be 
outweighed  by  grains  of  political,  or  rather  of  party 
dement.  Let  a  man  who  is  fufpe&ed  of  what  any 
party  terms  fedition  defervc  ever  fo  well  of  his  country, 
or  of  mankind  at  large,  in  other  refpefls,  no  more 
mercy  would  be  (hewn  him  on  that  account,  than 
was  (hewn  by  Robefpierrein  France.  Had  I  made  dif- 
coveries  in  fcience  equal  to  thofe  of  Newton,  or  had 
had  the  philanthropy  of  Howard,  they  would  not  have 
exempted  me  from  the  coarfeft  abufe  that  the  Englifh 
language  can  furnifh.  A  dcte6ted  thief,  or  a  fraudu- 
lent forger  of  bank  bills,  would  have  met  with  more 
favour  than  has  been  ihewn  to  me. 

I  do  not  recollect  any  thing  more  that  I  have 
done  with  refpe6l  to  the  politics  of  this  country  fince 
I  have  come  into  it,  except  writing  a  reply  to  a  viru- 
lent cen lure  of  me  for  holding  a  correfpondence  with 
a  friend  in  France  on  occafion  of  a  letter  to  me  in- 
tercepted and  publifhed  with  notes  in  England,  and 
republifhcd  with  additional  and  more  virulent  remarks 
in  this  country.  This  reply  I  publifhed  in  feveral  of 
your  newjfpapers,  and  I  believe  it  gave  general  fatis- 
faclion,  I  mall,  therefore,  foon  proceed  to  inform 
you  what  I  really  think  of  the  political  ftate  of  this 

country, 


To  the  Inhabitants 


country,  and  I  fhall  do  it  with  perfect  freedom,  but 
with  that  coolnefs  which  I  hope  is  habitual  to  me. 
J  only  wifh  that  what  I  write  may  be  read  with  the 
fame  temper.  But  before  I  do  this  I  mall  in  my  next 
make  fome  farther  obfervations  concerning  the  inter- 
cepted  Letters,  and  abufive  writings  in  general,  and  thofe 
which  refped  myfelf  in  particular, 


I  am,  £c. 


LETTER   V. 

Of  the  intercepted  Letters,  and,  of  the  French  Revolution. 
My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

A  GREAT  clamour  was  made  fome 
time  ago  about  the  intercepted  letters  mentioned  in  my 
3aft.  It  was  on  that  occafion  that  I  wrote  the  fub- 
ftance  of  thefe  Letters ;  but  being  unwilling,  without 
more  urgent  caufe,  to  appear  as  a  political  writer,  I 
withheld  them  from  the  prefs,  and  contented  myfelf 
with  writing  a  fhort  advertifement,  merely  in  anfv/er  to 
a  charge  of  being  a  fpy  in  the  intereft  of  France. 

To  decline  all  particular  difcufiions,  I  then  obferv- 
cd,  that  I  was  not  anfwerabJe  for  what  any  perfon 
might  think  proper  to  write  to  me.  But  this  bufinefs 
being  again  brought  before  the  public,  I  will  freely 
acknowledge  that  my  friend's  letter  gave  me  great  plea- 
fure ;  and  the  like  I  have  received  from  others  before 
and  lincc  that  time,  written  by  the  fame  hand,  and  in 
the  fame  fpirit,  tho'  no  two  men  think  exactly  alike, 

or 


Of  Northumberland,  &V.  23 

or  would  exprefs  themfelves  in  exactly  the  fame  man- 
ner. Mr.  Stone,  being  a  younger  man,  will  naturally 
be  more  fanguine,  and  write  with  more  warmth  than  I 
fhould  be  d^fpofed  to  do.  But,  my  friends,  read  the 
intercepted  letters  without  regarding  the  notes  that  ac- 
companied the  publication,  and  then  fay  what  there 
is  in  them  that  can  givejuft  offence  to  any  American. 

Mr.  Stone  is  a  per  Ion  who,  together  with  niyfelf, 
earneftly  wifhed  for  a  reformation  of  abufes  in  the  En- 
glifh  government,  in  order  to  prevent  an  entire  revo- 
lution, which  we  did  not  think  was  wanted  there.  He 
now  fees,  or  thinks  he  fees,  that  no  fuch  reformation 
is  to  be  expected;  and  therefore  wilhcs  a  revolution  to 
take  place,  thinking  it  to  be  absolutely  neceffary  for 
the  good  of  the  people.  I  own  that  I  am  now  in- 
clined to  his  opinion.  I  fincerely  wifh  (if  the  genuine 
fpirit  of  the  original  constitution  cannot  be  revived, 
which  would  no  doubt  be  the  beft  for  that  country) 
'  for  fome  more  radical  change  than  I  have  hitherto 
thought  neccfTary,  the*  1  wifh  it  may  be  effected  pea- 
ceably, and  without  the  interference  of  any  foreign 
power. 

ThoJ  during  the  American  war  it  was  voted,  in 
the  houfe  of  Commons,  that  "  the  power  of  the  crown 
"  had  increafed,  was  increafing,  and  ought  to  be  dimi- 
"  niihed  ;"  it  is  evident  that,  fo  far  from  being  dimin- 
ifhed,  it  has  kept  increafmg  fince  that  time  ;  and  how 
far  it  may  go  it  is  impoflible  to  fay.  The  forms  of  the 
Britifh  confutation  are  fo  far  fro?n  being  any  real  check 
on  the  power  of  the  crown,  as  in  theory  they  ought  to 
be,  that  they  are  the  moft  convenient  inflruments  of  it  ; 
the  court,  as  is  well  known,  always  commanding  a  ma- 
jority in  the  houfe  of  Commons,  and  being  equally 
fare  of  the  fupport  of  the  Lords  in  all  their  mea- 
fures. 

Seeing  that,  for  want,  as  I  conceive,  of  a  due 
reprefentation  of  the  people,  a  refpeclable  clafs  of  En- 


24  To  the    Inhabitants 

glifli  citizens  arc  frowned  upon,  and  their  fituation  un- 
comfortable,  and  hardly  f'afe,  I  fmcerely  wifh  them 
relieved.  My  correfpondent  does  I  he  fame,  and  more- 
over expr  ifcs  his  fatisfa&ioh  in  the  progrefs  that  the 
fmblutipndry  fpirit  is  making  in  other  parts  of  Europe, 
where  it  is  ftiil  more  wanted.  Now,  pray,  what  of- 
fence, can  this  juftly  give  in  America,  where  a  fimilar 
revolution  has  actually  taken  place,  and  where  the  great 
benefits  of  it  are  every  day  experienced  ?  Why  fhould 
you  take  umbrage  at  othsr  countries  following  the  ex- 
ample that  you  have  fet  them  ? 

Shocked  at  the  enormities  which  have  been  com- 
mitted in  France,  and  which  no  perfons  lament  fo  much 
as  the  friends  of  liberty  in  every  country,  it  has  be- 
come fafhionable  with  many  to  exclaim  againfl  all  re- 
volutions indifcriminately,  and  all  the  principles  that 
lead  to  them  ;  and  in  the  Englifh  parliament  a  wifh 
has  been  openly  exprf  fled  for  the  reftoration  of  the  an- 
cient government,  and  the  ancient  religion,  of  France. 
But,  furely,  they  who  hold  this  language  muft  either 
be  avowed  advocates  of  arbitrary  power,  or  have  for- 
gotten the  ftate  of  Fiance  before  the  lafl  revolution. 

No  writer  whatever  exprcffes  a  greater  dread  of  e- 
very  thing  tending  to  revolution  than  Mr.  Robifon, 
profeflbr  of  Natural  Philofophy  in  the  univerfity  of 
Edinburgh,  in  his  book  entitled  Proofs  of  a  conspiracy  a- 
gainjl  all  the  religions  and  governments  of  Europe,  in 
which  he  makes  me  one  of  thofe  confpirators.  But  e- 
ven  this  writer  could  not  help  acknowledging  the  exift- 
ence  of  fuch  abufes  in  the  government  of  France  as 
were  absolutely  infupportable,  and  fuch  as  would  abun- 
dantly judify  the  fubjecls  of  it  in  attempting  its  fub- 
verfion.  It  may  not  be  amifs  to  bring  before  you  a  part 
of  what  this  writer  fays  on  the  fwbject. 

After  enumerating  all  the  caufes  of  corruption  in 
government,  he  fays  p..  48  "  Perhaps  there  never  was 
"  a  nation  where  all  thefe  co-operating  caufes  had 

"  acquired 


Of  Northumberland,  (3c.  25 

"  acquired  greater  ftrength  than  in  France.  Opprefli- 
i$  of  all  kinds  were  at  their  height.  The  luxuries 
st  of  life  were  enjoyed  exciufively  by  the  upper  claffes, 
"  and  this  in  the  higheft  degree  of  refinement ;  fo  that 
;  t\>".  defires  of  the  reft  were  whetted  to  the  utmoft. 
"  Rdu/.vi  appeared  in  its  worfl  form,  and  fcemed  cal- 
"  oulated  ioleiy  for  procuring  eflablilhments  for  the 
"  younger  fons  of  an  infolent  and  ufelefs  noblefie. 
"  Th^r  morals  of  the  higher  orders  of  the  clergy  and  of 
"  the  laity  \vere  equally  corrupt. — The  whole  nation 
"  became  infidel — The  mifconducl  of  adminiftration, 
"  and  the  abufes  of  the  public  treafure,  were  every 
"  day  growing  more  impudent  and  glaring,  £c.  &c. 
"  In  facl:  the  king  of  France  was  an  abfolute  monarch, 
*'  and  the  fubjeds  were  Oaves/'  p.  264. 

"  There  is  no  denying  the  infolence  and  oppreffi- 
"  on  of  the  crown,  and  of  the  nobles,  nor  the  mifeiy 
"  and  flavery  of  the  people  ;  nor  that  there  was  fuffi- 
"  cient  provocation  for  a  total  change  of  meafures  and 
<:  of  principles,"  p.  301.  And  is  not  this  the  very 
thing  that  the  French  nation,  now  fo  much  execrated, 
have  done  ?  For  what,  then,  are  they  to  be  fo  much 
condemned  ? 

You  will  obferve,  however,  that  this  writer  af- 
cribes  the  revolution  in  France,  in  a  great  meafure,  to 
the  example  fet  by  this  country,  to  which  it  is  fuffi- 
ciently  evident  from  his  manner  of  exprefling  himfelf, 
that  he  is  no  friend.  "  Their  officers  and  foldiers,  who 
"  returned  from  America,"  he  fays  "  imported  American 
"  principles,  arid  in  every  company  found  hearers  who 
"  liftened  with  delight  and  regret  to  the  fafcinating  tale 
"  of  American  independance,"  p.  263. 

Be  allured  that  the  enemies  of  the  French  revo- 
lution are  in  reality  no  lefs  the  enemies  of  the  Ame- 
rican, as  they  both  arofe  from  the  fame  principles. 
The  immediate  flimulus  was  oppreflion,  which  was 
unfpeakably  greater  in  France  than  it  was  in  this  coun- 

E  try. 


26  To  the  Inhabitants 

try.  And  if  ever  monarchy  be  firmly  eftablifhcd  in 
France,  the  liberty  and  independence  of  America  will 
be  in  imminent  danger.  But  I  have  no  fear  on  the 
fubjecl,  I  rejoice  in  both  revolutions  alike.* 

If  you  read  any  authentic  account  of  the  ftate 
of  the  other  European  kingdoms  (I  except,  however, 
Denmark  and  Sweden)  you  will  be  fatisfied  that  the 
abufes  of  government  and  the  oppreffion  of  the  peo- 
ple, are  got  to  an  extreme.  Germany  has  long  groan- 
ed under  the  oppreffion  of  a  haughty  nobility,  and 
there  have  been  frequent  rifings  of  the  peafants  to  bet- 
ter their  condition.  In  the  time  of  Luther  more  than 
a  hundred  thoufand  had  recourfc  to  arms  in  Swabia; 
but  wanting  good  leaders,  and  ill  provided  with  ftores 
and  ammunition,  they  were  foon  fupprtffed.  Both 

Spain 

*  From  the  commencement  of  the  American  war  I  wimed 
for  the  independence  of  this  country,  being  firmly  perfuadcd 
that  it  would  be  for  the  real  advantage  of  England,  as  well  as 
of  thcfe  States  ,  and  this  is  now,  I  believe,  almoft  univerfally 
acknowledged  to  be  the  cafe.  I  am  equally  well  perfuaded 
that  it  would  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  England  (I  do 
not  fay  for  the  glory  of  the  Monarch)  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  dominion  of  the  Eaft  or  the  Weft  Indies.  I  once 
mentioned  ihis  opinion  t«  Sir  George  Savile,  adding,  that  it 
would  have  been  much  better  for  England  never  to  have  had 
the  pofleflion  of  Gibraltar,  and  that  it  would  be  good  policy  to 
give  it  up.  He  faid  that  he  had  often  thought  fo  too,  but  that 
the  opinion  was  fo  unpopular  that  he  had  not  dared  to  avow  it. 

The  late  Lord  Chatham  was  fond  of  foreign  poffeffions.  HC 
was  much  againft  granting  abfolute  independence  to  America, 
which  he  faid  wag  the  faireft  jewel  in  the  crown  of  the  Bri- 
tifh  monarch,  and  his  opinion  had  for  feme  time  great  weight 
with  the  marquis  of  Lanfdown,  then  Lord  Shelburne.  On 
this  Dr.  Price,  who  thought  as  I  did  on  the  fubjeft,  agreed 
with  me  to  write  our  thoughts  feparately  on  the  fubjeft,  and 
prefent  them  to  his  Lordfhip.  We  did  fo,  and  fome  time  after 
he  told  me  that  he  had  (hewn  my  paper  to  Lord  Chatham, 
but  that  he  was  much  offended  at  it.  At  the  couclnfion  of 


Of  Northumberland,  &?c,  27 

Spain  and  Naples,  which  are  held  by  the  fame  family, 
have  not  one  half  of  their  ancient  inhabitants ;  and 
there  cannot  be  a  more  certain  proof  of  bad  govern- 
ment than  this.  Their  condition  is  little,  it  at  all, 
better  than  that  of  the  Turkifh  dominions.  Portugal, 
is  in  much  the  fame  flate. 

Can,  then,  any  perfon,  any  friend  of  liberty  and 
humanity,  himfelf  enjo^in^  the  bieffin^s  of  a  republi- 
can government,  wifh  that  any  part  of  his  ipecies 
ftiould  continue  in  this  (late  of  degradation  and  bon- 
dage ?  If  not,  he  muft  partake  in  the  generous  feel- 
ings of  my  correfpondent,  and  earneftly  wifh  for  their 
emancipation.  And  we  may  hope  that,  with  the  ex- 
amples of  America  and  France  before  them,  other  re- 
volutions may  be  attended  with  lefs  bloodfhed  than 
thofe  have  been. 

The  revolution  of  France  would,  it  cannot  be 

doubted, 

the  war,  however,  the  Marquis  made  no  difficulty  of  granting 
•what  he  thought  not  only  neceflary,  but  advantageous  to  his 
country,  of  which  he  was  then  prime  minifter.  Had  he  con- 
tiaued  fo  to  this  day,  kis  liberal  anH  enlightened  policy  would 
have  Caved  England,  and  all  Europe,  the  horrors  of  the  pre- 
fcnt,  moft  ruinous  and  impolitic  \vr. 

Tho*  I  did  not  accept  of  a  feat  in  the  conventional  afiem- 
blyof  France,  I  had  at  that  time  a  correfpnadence  with  fome 
ef  the  leading  men  of  that  country  ;  and  believing  that  my  o- 
pinion  would  have  fome  weight,  I  advifed  the  abandoning 
the  Weft- Indies,  and  all  their  foreign  pofigfiions.  The  an- 
fwer  I  received  was  that  they  thought  23  I  did  on  the  fubje£r, 
but  that  theintereft  of  thofe  who  were  poffefied  of  property 
in  the  ifland*,  would  prevent  their  doing  it  for  the  prefent. 
This  correfpondence  was  continued  till  the  death  of  the  king, 
againft  which  I  gave  my  advice  ;  but  a  concurrence  of  circum- 
ftances,  the  principal  of  which  was  thTlhfluence  of  the  queen, 
was  fatal  to  that  well  meaning  man.  Of  what  paffed  in  France 
after  that  event  I  had  no  information  but  from  newfpapers. 
But  ic  feems  I  muft,  notwithftanding  this,  be  anfwerabic  for  it 
all. 


2  8  To  the   Inhabitants 

doubted,  have  continued  to  be  as  peaceable  throughout, 
as  it  was  at  its  onfet.  *  if  the  king  had  been  content 
with  the  limited  power  of  which  the  firft  conftitution 
left  him  poffefTed  ;  and  had  not  this  unfortunate  prince 
been  ftimulated  by  others,  more  ambitious  than  him- 
felf,  to  recover  the  power  that  he  had  loft,  the  war,  and 
the  confequent  enormities,  had  not  taken  place.  To 
thofe  princes,  therefore,  and  their  wicked  confederacy, 
are  all  the  enormities  to  be  afcribed. 

But  it  appears  to  have  been  the  intention  of  pro- 
vidence to  do  more  for  the  French  nation,  and  ulti- 
mately for  all  Europe,  than  they  ever  thought  of  do- 
ing for  themfelves,  tho'  by  means  which  men  would 
not  be  juftified  in  having  recourfe  to.  The  national 
affemblv,  and  the  people  of  France,  meant  to  do  no- 
thing ^ore  than  to  limit  the  power  of  the  crown  ;  but 
God  IMS  given  them  a  government  purely  republican, 
and  rtpre  Tentative,  like  that  of  America,  without  any 
hereditary  powers  or  honours;  and  the  fame  benefit, 
I  doubt  nr.f,  with  my  correfpondent,  is  intended  for 
all  thofe  countries  whofe  kings  are  at  prcfent  confede- 
rated againfl  France  and  univerfal  liberty. 

If  every  thing  that  is  true  and  right  v*i?]  finally 
prevefctj  againfl  whatever  is  error  and  wr.--:igt  [he  caufe 
of  monarchy,  always  tending  to  defpocifm,  cannot  be 
fupported  much  longer.  Independently  of  wars,  .\vhich 
muft  accelerate  the  great  cataftrophe,  they  all  con- 
tain within  themfelves  the  feeds  of  their  own  deflruc- 
tion.  The  people  acquiring  knowledge  every  day,  will 
not  much  longer  bear  what  they  have  done.  Nor  is 

it 

*  At  the  time  of  the  firft  conftitution,  when  France  was  a 
H/nited  monarchy,  *NMl  thofe  who  took  the  lead  in  that  country 
wouM  to  nuy  own  knowledge,  have  given  alrnoft  any  thing  for 
the  frienrfi  ip  and  concurrence  of  England,  as,  in  their  opini- 
on, that  would  have  enfured  the  peace  of  France,  and  of  all 
Europe, 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  29 

it  difficult  to  forefee  that  the  infatuation  of  the  prefent 
race  of  kings,  which  is  remarkably  fimilar  f o  .jjut  of 
Pharaoh,  will  bring  on  their  definition  in  the  manner 
predicted  in  the  fcriptures,  viz.  with  violence,  and  much 
confequent  general  calamity. 

I  (hall  on  this  occafion  obferve,  that  it  is  alfo  a 
manifeil  error  with  refpecl;  to  true  policy  in  thole  who 
wifh  to  difarm  feditious  publications  of  their  flim*  to 
publifb  themfelves  as  they  fometimes  do,  what  appears 
to  tiem  moft  obnoxious  in  them;  thinking  toexpofe 
them,  an  1  to  render  the  authors  odious ;  not  coul*  Ber- 
ing to  whom  they  will  appear  in  that  light.  For  while 
they  are  read  with  diflike,  and  even  horror,  by  fome, 
they  maybe  read  with  admiration  by  others.  The  inter- 
cepted Letfers.  and  the  paragraphs  feletled  from  Mr. 
Cooper's  Addrcfs  are  cafes  in  point,  as  well  as  feveral 
other  articles  which  have  been  inferted  in  the  Federal 
Newfpapers  of  this  country.  The  friends  of  liberty 
rejoice  to  fee  fuch  publications  thro'  any  channel,  and 
efpecially  when  it  is  done  at  no  rifk  to  themfelves ;  and 
without  regarding  the  comments,  they  attend  to  the 
text. 

The  fame  wretched  politicians  alfo  do  not  confi- 
der  the  natural  tendency  and  effeft  of  the  abufe  that 
they  throw  out  againfl  the  friends  of  liberty  ana  the 
rights  of  man.  If  it  have  any  effect,  which  is  very 
queftionable,  it  only  makes  us  Hand  fomething  worfe 
with  thofe  with  whom  it  is  no  object  to  us  to  (land 
well  at  all,  while  it  recommends  us  to  all  thofe  wbofe 
good  opinion  and  attachment  we  really  value.  What 
is  it  to  me  to  bethought  ill  of  by  the  friends  of  Church 
and  king  (with  the  cry  of  which  my  houfe  was  burned) 
in  England,  or  by  Mr.  Gobbet  and  his  readers  in  this 
country.  My  account  with  them  has  been  long  fet- 
tled. I  am  already  a  bankrupt  in  their  efteem,  and 
no  new  article  in  the  account  can  alter  the  balance  for 
or  againft  me.  My  partis  taken,  and  my  reputation, 

as 


go  To  the   Inhabitants 

as  far  as  it  is  an  objeft  with  me,  is  with  men  of  oppo- 
fite  principles,  thofe  who  are  opprobrioufly  called  de- 
mocrats, jacobins,  and  every  thing  elie  of  the  kind  ; 
and  to  thefe,  and  efpecially  thofe  of  that  clafs  in  France, 
this  abufe  tends  to  recommend  me. 

I  am,  &c* 


LETTER  VL 

Of  the  Style  of  Abufe  in  the  Writings  of  Mr.  Cobbet, 
alias  Peter  Porcupine. 

My  Friends,  and  Neighbours, 

IT  is  Commonly  faid  that  when  much 
dirt  is  thrown,  fame  willjlick ;  and  on  this  principle  I 
fuppofe  it  is  that  I  have  been  diftinguifhed  fo  often  by 
my  principal  antagonift  Mr.  Cobbet,  under  the  figna- 
ture  of  Peter  Porcupine.  But  he  appears  to  me  to 
have  fpoiled  his  part  by  overa&ing  it.  For  men  may 
be  fo  covered  with  dirt  that  it  mall  not  be  known 
who  they  are,  nor  will  they  be  diftinguifhed  from  one 
another,  like  Virgil's  complimentary  epithets,  Jortifquc 
Gyasfortifquc  Cloanthus.  Befides  fuch  coarfe  abufe  as  is 
implied  in  the  words  vilain,  rafcal,  fcoundrel,  &c.  &c. 
witn  which  his  writings  abound,  only  marks  the  low 
education,  and  the  low  character  arid  manners  of  the 
man  that  ufes  them.  Such  language  is  never  ufed  by 
gentlemen,  or  fcholars,  nor  can  they  return  it,  tho'  it 
were  ever  fo  well  merited,  not  to  fay  that  a  chriflian 
mufl  not  return  railing  for  railing,  (i  Pet,  3,  9)  With 

refpeft 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  31 

refpecl;  to  them,  therefore  it  is  an  unfair  weapon.  It 
is  like  throwing  ftreet  dirt,  which  they  cannot  han- 
dle. 

It  was  a  thing  of  courfe  that  I  fhould  be  the  ob- 
ject of  calumny  ever  finer:  I  wrote  in  defence  of  unpo- 
pular truths,  and  unpopular  maxims.  Indeed,  I 
queflion  whether  any  perfon  in  England  (the  pi 'me 
minifter  for  the  time  beir.g  excepted)  ever  had  fo 
much  of  what  is  generally  termed  abuff,  as  rny- 
felf.  It  has  been  pouring  out  with  very  little  intermif- 
iion  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  1$  continued,  I 
find,  in  rny  abfence.  My  friends,  however,  fay  that 
it  certainly  agrees  with  me.  Fortho'I  was  originally 
of  a  weak  conftitution,  my  health  has  been  improving 
ever  fince,  and  I  never  was  fo  well  a§  I  have  been  fmcc 
my  arrival  in  this  place,  except  about  three  months  af- 
ter my  landing,  which  was  before  Mr.  Cobbet  took  no- 
tice of  me.  They  now  fay  that,  old  as  I  am,  I  bid  fair 
to  outlive  fome  of  my  younger  oponents.  That  farcaftic 
writings  mould  have  this  ialutary  effect.,  will  not  be 
thought  fo  extraordinary,  when  it  is  confidered  that 
pepper,  muftard.  fait,  and  vinegar,  have  their  ufe  in  a 
good  dinner,  as  well  as  the  beef  and  the  pudding. 
They  certainly  contribute  to  a  good  digcftion.  But 
there  mud  be  feme  peculiar  charm  in  Mr.  Gobbet's  wri- 
ting, operating  unfeen  and  unknown,  for  I  do  not  think 
I  have  feen  more  than  a  tenth  part  of  his  voluminous 
publications,  and  in  all  of  them,  I  doubt  not,  he  con- 
trives to  find  a  nich  for  me.  I  am  alinoft  as  neceflary 
to  him,  and  as  good  tfubjcB  for  him,  as  the  king  of  En- 
gland is  to  Peter  Pindar.  In  England,  however,  where 
decency  and  good  manners  are  rarely  violated,  my  anta- 
gonifts  were  never  of  this  low  clafs.  But  the  lafl  of  the  a- 
nimals  that  had  a  kick  at  the  old  lion  in  the  fable  was 
the  afs. 

The  profufion  and  variety  of  Mr.  Gobbet's  abufe 
argues  a  peculiar  genious  of  the  kind  unequalled  by  any 

thing 


j-i  To  tJtt  Inhabitants 

thing  fbat  I  have  met  with  before.  In  the  compafs  of 
o^'.\  iree  ncv/s-papers,  and  ch  ?-.\r  none  of  the:;:  I 
am  railed  *:  a  hoary  hypocrite,  a  malignant  old  Tajtoff, 
"  a  lurking  -Id  illuminatus,  a  poor  o'd  wretch,  a  tni- 
"  ferable  perverfe  old  man,  a  perverfe  old  hvpocrite, 
"  and  a  vincli&ive,  unnatural,  hyporrit.-cal  wretch/' 
I  am  "  of  a  factious  difpofirion,  anapoflic  of  fedition, 
"  a  political  viper,  with  a  black  rancoious  heart,  and 
"  fmooth  tongued  whining  cart ;  a  cunning  fe&ary,  an 
"  ambitious  fe&ary,  a  baffled  focinian,  and  a  Jefuit." 
I  am  accufed  of  "  falfehood  and  poifonous  malignity, 
(t  actuated  by  cool  and  premeditated  malice."  I  have 
"  the  craft  of  a  fedary,  joined  to  the  hatred  and  malice 
<c  of  a  fiend.  My  conduct/'  he  fays  "  has  been  wick- 
<{  edand  deteftable,  that  I  wifh  Great  Britaj  i  revoluti- 
"  onized,  and  ruined,  and  indulge  a  wicked  tho'  delu- 
"  five  hope  of  feeing  this  wifh  accomplifhed  ;  that  I 
"  never  mifs  an  opportunity  of  endeavouring  to  render 
"  my  countrymen  the  hate  and  fcorn  of  the  univerfe  ; 
<c  that  for  twenty  years  pad  I  have,  from  hatred  to  my 
"  native  country,  facnficed  my  intereft,  my  peace,  and 
"  my  reputation,  to  the  pleafure  of  injuring,  infult- 
"  ing,  and  ruining  it."  In  conjunction  with  others, 
he  calls  me  "  a  vilain  and  a  fcoundrel,  *  and  both 
"  fool  and  knave.  My  bufinefs  in  this  country,"  he 
fays,  "  is  of  a  nature  moft  hoftile  to  its  happinefs  and 
"  independence."  It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  he 
treats  me,  as  he  fays,  "  with  his  unqualified  con- 
"  tempt/' 

His  pamphlet  on  the    fubjecl:  of  my  emigration, 
publiflbed  foon  after  my  arrival,  contains  the  following, 

among 

*  I  rather  wonder  that  the  term  rafcatis  not  applied  to  me, 
as  it  ig  to  others)  in  this  particular  paper,  as  well  as  vilain  and 
ftoitndrel.  It  i$,  J  doubt  not,  frequently  enough  applied  to 
me  in  other  parts  of  his  writings.  But  fuch  near  relation*  and 
companions  ought  not  to  hive  been  fofir  feparatcd. 


Of  Northumberland.   &?c,  33 

among  other  falfehoods,  "  I  had  been/'  he  fays,  "  for 
"many  years  an  avowed  and  open  enemy  to  the  go- 
"  vcrmnent  and  conRitiztion  of  my  country ;  th?t  in 
"  my  inflammatory  difcourfes,  called  fermons,  ^  -:- 
"  glifh  conftitution  was  openly  attacked  ;  anr5 
"  doctrines  there  held  forth  were  fubvci  five  ci  ill  civil 
"  and  religious  order;'*  and  in  his  i?ev-  he 

'fays,  "my  conventicle  at  IIa.<  !.  w;  _  ,oft  con- 
"  venient  and  fuccefsful  fchooi  ov  trt.i^ti.  1 
"  tamed,"  he  fays.  "  the  hope  v.  bftngiftg  atoijt  a.  re- 
"  volution  in  England  on  the  French  p<art  an.,  that  I 
"  had  no  obje&ioti  to  the  continuance  of  i/ihes  in 
fc  England,  provided  I  came  in  for  a  (hare .." 

He  fays  that  "  my  public  celebration  of  the 
"  French  riots  and  maiTacres  is  a  convincing  proof 
"  of  my  ajipfovingjthern.  ^r.d  that  my  fending  my  fon  to 
"  Paris  in  die  miclft  of  them,  to  requeft  the  honour 
"  of  becoming  a  French  citizen,  is  another  proof  of 
"  the  fame  that  cannot  be  difputed;  that  I  approved 
"  of  the  unmerciful  persecution  of  the.  unfortunate  and 
"  worthy  part  of  the  French  clergy,  men  as  far  fur- 
"  palling  me  in  piety  and  ability,  as  in  fufFering  ;  that 
"  the  French  conftitution  is  my  fyftem,  and  that 
"  fooner  than  not  fee  it  eftabliflied,  he  much  queftions 
"if  I  would  not  with  pleafure  fee  the  maffacre  of  all 
"the  human  race/'  But  if  all  mankind  were  deftroy- 
ed  where  is  this  conftitution  of  mine  to  be  eftablifhed  ? 
As  he  has  not  told  us  where,  I  muft  fuppofe  that  he 
meant  among  bears,  wolves,  or  wild  beafts  of  fome 
kind  or  other. 

With  refpecl;  to  the  riots  in  Bermingham,  he  fays, 
"  that  "  I  was  the  principal  caufe  of  them  ;  that  the  fef- 
"  tival  of  the  commemoration  of  the  French  revolution 
"  was  to  celebrate  events  which  were  in  reality  the' 
"  fuhjecl  of  the  deeped  horror ;  that  this  riot,  confi- 
"  clered  comparatively  with  what  I  and  rry  friends 
"  wifiied  to  ilir  up,  was  peace  harmony,  and  gentle- 

F  "  nefs  : 


34  To  the   Inhabitants 

"  nefs ;  that  the  magiftrates  ufed  every  exertion  m 
"  their  power  to  quell  the  riot  in  its  very  earlieft  ftage; 
<•'  that  had  the  rioters  flopped  at  the  deftru&ion  of  my 
•'*  meeting  houfe,  all  had  been  well.  In  whatever 
"  light,"  he  lays,  "  we  view  the  Birmingham  riots,  we 
:i  can  fee  no  objeft  to  exnte  our  compaflion,  except  the 
"  inhabitants  of  the  hundred,  and  the  unfortunate  ri- 
"  oters  themfeives ;  that  the  lofs  of  my  manufcripts 
"  was  little  more  than  a  few  dirty  meets  of  paper,  and 
"  their  deftru&ion  a  benefit,  rather  than  a  lofs,  bc.h  to 
"  myfelfand  the  country;  that  my  philosophical  appa- 
"  ratu-s  was  a  thing  of  imaginary  value  onJy,  and  ought 
C{  not  to  be  eftimated  at  its  coft,  any  more  than  a  col- 
:c  lection  of  flieJIs,  or  infe£ls,  or  any  other  fnvola  of  a 
"  virtuofo." 

"  In  this  country,"  he  fays,  "  there  is  nothing  to 
'(  fear  from  me  except  my  difTeminating  my  deiftical 
"  principles."  In  another  place,  however,  he  calls  my 
doctrines  athcifiical,  tho"  it  is  impoffible  that  they  can 
be  both;  and  he  fpeaks  of  "  the  infidel  philofophy  of 
"  Voltaire,  Roufleau,  Gibbon,  Prieftley,  and  the'reft 
"  of  that  enlightened  tribe/'  To  make  the  group  com- 
plete (for  the  conjiftency  of  it  is  no  obje6l  with  him) 
he  mould  have  added  fome  diftinguimed  heathens,  and 
mahometans  as  holding  the  fame  opinions.  "  When  I 
"  preached  in  Philadelphia,"  he  fays,  "  I  gave  up  a 
"  ftiare  of  the  pence  which  I  was  able  to  draw  out  of 
"  the  pockets  of  my  hearers  for  the  liberty  of  preach- 
"  ing  in  the  church  of  the  Univerfalifts,"  of  which  he 
fpeaks  with  the  greateft  contempt. 

All  this,  you  will  obferve,  is  mere  affertion,  with- 
out any  evidence  whatever  ;  and  therefore  my  fimple 
denial  (tho'  I  could  bring  abundant  proof  of  every 
thing  that  I  fliali  fay]  may  be  a  fufficicnt  anfwer. 

Now  I  can  fay  with  truth  that,  in  the  courfe  of 
more  than  forty  years,  I  never  preached  one  fermon 
that  any  of  you  would  have  faid  was  political ;  nor  did 

I  ever 


Of  Northumberland,   &c.  35 

I  ever,  in  any  place,  or  in  any  form,  exprefs  a  wifh  for 
any  material  change  in  the  Englifh  conftitution  ;  and  I 
am  confident  I  have  a  more  fincere  refpecl;  for  my  native 
country,  and  for  this  too  than  Mr.  Cobbet  has  for  a- 
ny  country.  My  writings  fhew  that  I  was  always  an  e- 
nemy  of  all  civil  eftubliftiments  of  religion,  but  thought 
that  if  there  was  to  be  one,  it  fhould  be  of  chnjhanity 
in  general,  fuch  as  cxifts  in  the  New-England  ftatts  ; 
and  then  that  the  church  revenues,  whatever  they  were, 
fhould  be  given  to  ail  the  feds  alike. 

When  I  preached  at  the  church  of  the  Univerfal- 
ifts,  I  wifhed  to  have  no  colle&ion  made  after  fervice, 
all  that  was  collected  was  given  to  the  minifter  of 
the  place ;  and  when  I  preached  in  the  hall  of  the  u- 
niverfity,  only  one  collection  was  made  to  defray  the 
expences  that  had  been  incurred.  I  was  glad  of  the 
opportunity  of  doing  what  I  thought  to  be  good  without 
any  pecuniary  benefit.  Whether  the  difcourfes  tha't  I 
delivered  were  calculated  to  do  any  good  thofe  who 
read  them  may  judge. 

My  fon  went  to  France  before  the  revolution  took 
place,  and  before  any  fuch  thing  was  expected  ;  nor 
was  any  requrft  ever  made  by  myfelf,  or  my  friends,  to 
be  made  a  French  citizen.  The  fecond  time  that 
he  v/ent  was  in  order  to  be  received  into  the  houfe  of  a 
merchant  at  Nantes,  from  which  place,  on  account 
of  the  troubles  in  that  neighbourhood,  he  removed  to 
this  country. 

When  the  anniverfary  of  the  French  revolution 
was  celebrated  at  Birmingham,  the  conftitution  of 
France  was  a  limited  monarchy,  very  much  like  that 
of  England,  and  had  been  folemnly  accepted  by  the 
king  himfelf.  Tho'  I  approved  ofr  that  celebration,  I 
neither  piojecled.  nor  attended  it.  The  magiftrates 
made  no  ferious  attempts  to  quell  the  riot,  but  rather 

promoted 


o6  To  the    Inhabitants 

promoted  it.  *  Of  the  amount  of  my  lodes  on  that 
occafion  I  have  nothing  to  add  to  what  will  be  found 
in  my  Appeal  to  the  people  of  England  on  the  fubjecL 
In  a  pecuniary  computation  it  was  more  than  two  thou- 
fand  pounds  lefs  than  the  real  value. 

This  orofs  abufc  comes  from  a  man  with  whom  I 

Q 

never  had  any  jntercourfe,  whom  I  never  pflfennied,  or 

irritated  by  any  reply  to  his  :nveciiv*?s,  which  have  ne- 
ver celled  fince  I  have  been  in  the  country ;  nor 
fho  ?]  J  I  have  noticed  them  now.  bat  that  I  find  his 
publications,  have  increaiing  acceptance  and  celebrity 
with  the  friends  of  thofe  who  have  the  chief  power 
in  this  country  :  fo  that  fince  the  riot  in  Birmingham 
is  opr-nly  approved  and  prailed  by  him  and  his  fup- 
porters,  a  firnilar  one  may  be  apprehended  here,  ef- 
pecially  if  what  Mr.  Cobbet  'ays  be  true  (and  I  fee 
no  r  •;  queftion  itj  that  "  he  has  lived  to  fee  the 

"  truth  of  his  ftaiemeiits,  and  thejufticv. of  bis  opini- 
t:  ons,  refpecling  me  fully  and  univerfclly  acknow- 
ledged ;"  a"  :  <ince  a  fpirit  of  party  runs  as  high  in  this 
country  as  1  ever  knew  it  to  do  in  England.  If  you 
believe  one  half  of  what  Mr.  Cobbet  fays  of  me,  you 
would  be  juflified  and  applauded,  for  destroying  me,  as 
you  would  for  killing  a  ferpent  or  a  wild  beafl. 

Having  advanced  thus  much  in  my  vindication, 
I  mall  probably  bear  in  filence  (as  I  have  hitherto 
done  with  refpccl;  to  what  is  paflj  whatever  farther  a- 
bufe  I  mav  be  expofed  to.  What  other  terms  of  re- 
,  cH  •  Englifh  language  can  furnifh  I  am  ignorant 
o  Kit  I  fliall  expect  very  foon  to  find  ;  if  not,  that 
more  curious  changes  will  be  rung  on  thofe  that  have 
been  fo  often  ufed  already,  and  eipccially  his  three  fa- 
vourite 

*  I  have  been  very  credibly  informed  that  Lady  Aylesford, 
\vife  of  the  lord  Lieutenant  of  the  county,  convrrfing  on 
the  fubjed  of  the  riots,  faid  "  They  went  iarther  than  we 
intended." 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  37 

vourhe  words,  rafcal  vilain  and  fcoundrd.  Thefehavc 
been  fo  much  ufed  by  him,  that  I  imagine  his  printer 
rnuft  provide  frefh  types  for  the  letters  of  which  they 
con  ML 

If  any  frelh  accufation  be  advanced,  it  muft  be 
that  1  was  fent  hither  as  a  convict,  for  theft  or  robbery 
on  the  high  way;  but  that,  ben^  favoured,  I  was 
permitted  to  export  myfelf  to  America,  rather  than  be 
lent  to  my  friends  and  old  comparions  at  Botany  bay ; 
it  being  thought  that  there  were  already  dangerous  per- 
fons  enow  in  that  one  place.  And  there  will  be  juit  as 
much  truth  in  this,  as  in  any  thing  that  has  yet  been 
advanced  againft  me  by  Mr.  'Gobbet. 

As  a  part  of  the  gener;;!  plan  of  that  providence 
which  overrules  all  thirds.  I  am  far  from  complain- 
ing of  the  treatment  1  Lave  met  with  in  England,  or 
in  this  country;  •  fpociaHy  as  it  Has  altnoft  always  at- 
tended the  greai'jfl  merit,  and  we  cannot  expect  to  have 
any  commodity  without  the  tax  that  is  laid  upon  it  by 
the  L;ws  of  nature.  In  a  fyftem  in  which  infinite  wif- 
dorn  and  infinite  goodneis  are  equally  apparent,  no- 
thing can  eventually  be  wrong :  and  toads  and  vipers 
are  as  neceifary  in  the  fyflem  as  horfcs  and  fheep;  and 
noxious  plants  as  much  as  wholefome  herbs. 

I  mail  con  elude  this  letter  with  obferving  that  what- 
ever I  may  think  of  the  Englifh  government ;  I  have 
fuch  an  opinion  of  the  liberality,  the  good  fenfe,  and 
the  good  tafte,  of  my  countrymen,  that  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  any  fuch  a  newfpaper  as  that  of  Peter  Por- 
cupine would  meet  with  any  encouragement  among 
the  warmeft  friends  of  Church  and  king  in  England,  . 

I  am,  &c. 
LETTER 


3 8  To  the  Inhabitants 

LETTER   VI L 

Of  my  Religion. 
My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

MR.  COBBET  calls  me  fometimcs 
an  Unitarian  fometimes  a  deift,  fomctitnes  an  atheijl,  and 
always  a  hypocrite.  And  a  great  hypocrite  I  muft,  in- 
deed, be,  if,  in  reality,  I  do  not  believe  in  the  being  of 
a  God,  or  in  the  truth  of  chriftianity,  when  I  have 
written  more  in  defence  of  thofc  articles  of  faith  than 
any  other  man  now  living,  or  almoft  that  ever  did 
live,*  and  have  officiated  as  a  chriftian  minifter  more 
than  forty  years. 

I  mud  alfo  have  a  greater  want  of  common  fenfe 
than  he  afcribes  to  me,  to  maintain  opinions  fo  incon- 
jQftent  with  one  another  as  thofe  above  mentioned.  An 
atheift  acknowledges  no  God,  and  no  future  flate ; 
deifls  acknewled^e  the  former  but  few  of  them  the 
latter,  and  they  believe  in  no  revelation ;  whereas  uni- 
tarians  deny,  indeed,  a  trinity  in  God,  but  they  be- 
lieve in  one  God,  the  Father,  and  in  the  divine  miffion 
of  Chrift.  They  believe  that  he  worked  miracles  by 
the  power  of  God,  that  God  raifed  him  from  the  dead, 
and  that  he  will  come  again  to  raife  all  the  dead,  and 
judge  the  world.  The  lame  man  can-not;,  therefore,  be 
at  the  fame  time  an  atheifl.  a  dei/c.  and,  an  unitarian. 

if 

*  I  can  only  recoiled  one  pcrfon  who  has  written  more  in 
defence  of  cbriftiamty  than  my  fell,  and  that  was  an  Unita- 
rian, I  mean  Dr.  Lapfaer,  wuh  vh«  rr,  I  had  the  h&ppinefs 
to  bf  acquainted,  and  who,  in  conjunction  "with  Dr.  Ficm- 
ing,  was  the  publisher  of  the  firft  of  m?  theological  writ- 
ings. 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  39 

If  I  be  a  hypocrite,  in  pretending  only  to  be  no 
atheifl,  ordeift,  while,  in  reality,  I  am  cither  the  one 
or  the  other,  what  have  I  got  by  my  hypocrify  ;  when, 
tho'  I  have  been  a  preacher,  as  I  have  obfervcd,  more 
than  forty  years,  my  profcilion  has  never  yielded  me 
half  a  maintenance  •  and  here  I  get  nothing  at  all  by  it. 
Men  arc  not  at  the  trouble  of  acting  the  hypocrite5  and 
efpccially  for  fo  long  a  time,  for  nothing, 

It  is  true  that  I  do  not  j  un  in  the  public  wo.-fhip 
of  this  place  ;  but  it  is  becaufe  I  cannot  join  in  your  de- 
votions, which  are  altogether  trinitari«n,  as  they  ought 
to  be  while  you  are  triniianans.  For  it  would  be  ab- 
furd  to  acknowledge  Chrift  to  be  God,  and  not  to  ren- 
der him  the  honours  of  divinity,  by  praying  to  him  as 
an  omnipvefent  arid  omnipotent  Being.  But  tho'  I  do 
not  worfhip  with  you,  I  have  divine  fervice  every  Lord's 
day  in  my  own  houfe,  which  is  then  open  to  every  bo- 
dy, and  where  feveral  of  you  occafionally  attend.  Now 
did  any  of  you  ever  hear  me  preach  any  thing  like  a- 
thcifm,  or  deifm,  or  indeed  any  thing  contrary  to  your 
own  opinions  ?  And  when  you  have  heard  me  pray, 
could  not  you  join  me  in  every  word  I  faid  ?  If  you 
be  chriftians  at  all,  I  am  confident  you  always  might. 
It  never  was  my  cuflom  to  preach  on  the  controverted 
fubjecls  of  religion,  or  only  on  particular  occafions. 
Thefe  I  difcufs  in  my  publications,  in  which  you  may 
fee  what  my  opinions  on  thofe  fubje&s  are,  and  the  ar- 
guments I  have  to  advance  in  fupport  of  them. 

Had  I  been  permitted  to  officiate  in  either  of  your 
meeting  houfes  (which  I  iliould  have  done  gratis,  thank- 
ful for  luchan  opportunity  of  being  uleful  among  you) 
you  would  never  have  heard  from  me  anything  but  the 
principles  of  our  common  chrijlianity.  And  this  will 
furnifh  topics  of  difcourfe  in  great  abundance,  and  fuck 
as  are  of  far  greater  importance  than  all  the  things  ab- 
out which  we  differ .  The  fubftantial  dtities  of  the 
chriftian  life,  to  inculcate  which  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the 

great 


40  To  the  Inhabitants 

great  end  of  all  our  preaching,  are  the  fame  on  all  our 
principles  ;  and  do  I  in  rny  preaching  (and  I  hope  I 
may  add  in  my  preface)  contradift  any  of  fhde  ? 

We  all  agree  in  acknowledging  the  fame  books  of 
fcripture,  and  we  protcfs  to  derive  our  fauh  from  them, 
th./  we  interpret  them  differently.  This,  furely,  is 
not  atheifm,  or  deifm.  If  I  do  not  believe  the  divini- 
ty of  Chrift,  it  is  becaufe  I  do  not  think  it  to  be  the 
do&rine  of  the  fcripturcs,  and  becaufe  I  cannot  help 
thinking  that  if  Chrifl,  and  alfo  the  Holy  Spirit,  be 
poffefled  of  all  the  attributes  of  divinity,  equally  with 
God  the  Father,  there  muft  be  three  Gods,  and  not  one 
only,  which  the  fcriptures  affert,  and  on  which  they  lay 
the  greateft  ftrefs.  In  this  you  will  not  agree  with  me  ; 
being  of  opinion  fehat,  in  fome  fenfe  or  other,  three  may 
be  ^one,  and  cut.  three.  But  you  will  not  fay  that  be- 
caufe I  am  not  a  trinitarian,  I  am  an  atheiil,  or  a  de- 
ift. 

You  do  not  call  the    Jews  atheifls  or  deifts,    be- 
caufe they  do  not  believe  the  divinity  of  Mofes,  or  of 
the   Mefliah  whom   they   expect.     They  believe  that 
Mofes  delivered   to  them  the  laws  and  commands  of 
God  ;  and  therefore  they  rcfpecl:  them  as  much  as  if 
they  had  all  com^  frorn  the  mouth  of  God  himfelf.     I 
do  the  fair.:*  with  refpe&jo  all  that  Chrift,  fpeakingin 
name  of    Gc^    :»as  delivered  to  us.      He  has  repeated- 
ly faid  (  John  vn.  16.  xiv,  24)  that  the  words  which  he 
fpake  were  not  his  rwn  but  the  Father's  who  fcnt  him  ;  that 
the  Father  who  w<?$  in  him.  or   with    him,  worked  the 
miracles  which  proved   his  divine   million  (John  xiv, 
10)  for  thafe  of  himfdf  he  could  do  nothing  (John  v.  30) 
The  apoftle  Peter  calls  Chrift  a  man  approved  of  God  by 
Jigns  and  wonders  which  God  did  by  him,  AtTrs  ii,   21, 
and  the  apoftle  Paul  fays  (i.  Cor.  viii.  6,   i.  Tim.  ii.  v.) 
To  us  there  is  one  God,  the  Father,  and  one  mediator  be- 
tween God  end  men,  the  man  Chrijl  Jefus. 

But  tho'  I  think  the  clear  fenfe  of  fcripture,  fuch 

as 


Of  Northumberland,  &c,  41 

as  is  intelligible  to  the  meaneft  capacity  is  on  my  fide, 
I  can  ealily  iuppofe  that  you  fee  things  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent light,  and  that  you  are  as  confcientious  in  differ- 
ing from  me,  as  I  am  in  differing  from  you.  I,  no 
doubt,  wifh  that  you  could  come  to  think  as  I  do  on 
thefe  fubjects,  as  you  do  with  refpc£t  to  me.  This  is 
unavoidable  in  us  both,  if  we  lay  any  ftrefs  on  our  opi- 
nions, and  have  any  good  will  for  one  another.  But 
I  do  riot  obtrude  my  opinions  upon  you,  or  offend  you 
with  difputation.  Few  of  you  have  ever  heard  me 
mention  the  fubjecl;  of  our  differences  with  refpecT:  to 
religion,  and  then  the  occafion  has  never  been  fought 
by  me.  I  do  not  condemn  thofe  who  a£l  otherwife,  but 
my  habits  are  different ;  and  tho'  I  have  no  lefs  zeal, 
I  take  a  different-'method  of  propagating  my  principles. 
I  have  feldom  feen  any  good  produced  by  difputiflg  in 
conversion.  It  too  often  tends  to  irritate,  and  tho* 
men  are  often  filcnced  in  this  way  they  are  feldom  con- 
vinced. But  beoaufe  I  am  not  always  talking  about  re- 
ligion, do  you  fuppofe,  with  Mr.  Gobbet,  that  I  have 
none  ? 

Mr.  Adams,  your  Prefident,  is  unque (lion ably  a 
religious  man,  and  on  this  account,  as  well  as  on  ma- 
ny others,  I  greatly  refpecl;  him.  He  knows  me  well  ; 
and  do  you  think  he  would  have  attended  me  conftant- 
ly,  as  he  did,  when  I  delivered  my  firft  fet  of  Difcour- 
fes  in  Philadelphia,  and  have  confented  that  I  fhould 
dedicate  them  to  him,  if  he  had  known,  or  fufpe£ted, 
me  to  be  an  atheifl  or  a  deift,  and  confequently  a  hypo- 
crite. He  entertains  no  doubt  cjf  my  being  a  fincere 
chriftian,  tho'  our  opinions  may  not  be  exactly  the 
fame. 

I  wifh  we  had  all  more  religion  than  we  have.  We 
fliould  then  think  more  of  another  world,  and  make 
lefs  account  of  this,  and  of  all  things  in  it,  than  we 
now  do.  It  would  give  us  an  habitual  regard  to  God, 
and  his  providence,  refpe&ing  both  individuals  and  fo- 

G  cieties 


42  To  the  Inhabitants 

cieties  of  mankind,  and  efpeciaily;  the  great  and  inter- 
eftini;>  event?  which  are  now  viking  plac^  ib  the  old 
ftorla.  Fimii;  believing  that  a  wile  and  good  provi- 
dence fuperintends  all  events,  and  wilt  bring  good  out 
of  all  evil,  fo  that  the  final  iffue  of  the  moft  calamitous 
events  will  be  glorious  and  happy,  we  (hall  view  them 
as  they  pals  before  us  not  without  intereft,  but  with  more 
tranquility.  and  without  ill  will  towards  any  part  of  the 
human  race,  even  our  perfonal  or  national  enemies. 

Whatever  you  may  think  in  the  prime  of  life,  while 
your  fpirits  are  high,  and  your  profpe&s  good,  the  va- 
lue of  religion  at  my  time  of  life  is  beyond  all  eftima- 
tion.  Without  fuch  profpe&s  as  religion  fets  before 
us  the  evening  of  life  would  be  cheerlefs  and  gloomy, 
but  with  them  it  is  moft  ferene  and  happy  ;  far  more  fo 
than  any  preceding  period.  I  am  far,  I  affure  you, 
from  wifhing  to  be  young  again,  tho*  I  enjoyed  that 
part  oi  life  as  much  as  any  of  you  can  do. 

On  this  account  I  regard  unbelievers  at  the  clofe 
of  life  with  much  companion.  And  late  converts,  and 
nominal  chriftians,  who  give  little  attention  to  the  fub- 
jeft,  are  not  much  better.  It  requires  time  before  the 
principles  of  chriftianity  can  be  of  much  ufe  in  this 
refpecl.  An  habitual  attention  muft  be  given  to  them, 
fo  that  in  every  interrniflion  of  necelfary  bufmefs  they 
(hall,  even  without  any  effort,  be  upperrnofl  in  a  man's 
thoughts,  affording  relief  under  all  his  troubles  and 
cares.  This  ftate  of  mind  cannot,  in  the  natural  courfe 
of  things,  be  acquired  in  a  fhorttime.  In  this  refpecl: 
faith  is  a  different  thing  from  mere  conviftion,  and  ad- 
mits of  degrees,  giving  confolation  and  joy  in  proport-- 
on  to  its  ftrength. 

Atheift  or  deift  as  I  may  be  confidered,  and  at- 
tached as  I  am  to  philofophical  purfuits.  my  chief  fatif- 
fadiops  are  derived  from  the  daily  ftudy  of  the  fcriptures, 
and  reflections  on  the  momentous  fubjec^s  that  arc  there 
propofed  to  us.  Religion  is  the  only  effectual  fupport 

under 


Of  Nj*t  number  land,  &e.  43 

under  all  the  troubles  of  life  (and  in  faying  this  you 
know  that  I  may  fpeak  from  experience)  as  well  as  in 
the  hour  of  death.  It  alfo  tends  to  make  men  lefs  am- 
bitious, and  to  allay  the  heat  of  party  fpirit,  which  is 
too  often  the  bane  of  good  neighbourhood,  and  ie- 
parates  thofe  who  would  otherwife  be  happy  in  a  plea- 
iing  and  beneficial  intercourfe.  If  nations,  or  their 
gO'/ernors,  were  really  chriftians,  all  mankind  woi  id 
live  in  pe^tce  and  friendship  with  one  another. 

Call -thisa/frwwn,  if  you  pleafe,  and  let  Mr  Cob- 
bet  call  it  cant  and  hypocrijy,  Only  behtvt  mo  <.e  be, 
notwith'fTahdirig  every  difference  of  opinion,  religious 
or  political, 

My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

your  fincere  weil-wifher, 

JOSEPH  PRIESTLEY. 

Northumberland,  Nov.  i.   1799. 

P.  S.  In  my  next  Letters  I  fhall,  according  to  my 
promife,  proceed  to  igitain  you  what  I  think  with  ref- 
pe6l  to  the  conduct  o^your  admimftration,  and  even 
the  conftitutJBj^kfelf.  But  as  thefe  are  ferious  and  deep 
fubjecls,  theylRpaire  to  be  treated  with  much  caution. 
And  thefe  being  tickliih  times,  it  may  be  prudent  to 
have  a  confultafton  of  my  lawyers  on  the  bufmefs.  Poor 
as  is  the  fled  which  Mr.  Cobbet  fays  I  dignify  with  the 
name  of  a  hoitje,  I  mould  be  forry  to  exchange  it  for 
fuch  lodgings  as  the  liberality  of  this  country  affigned  to 
Mr.  Lyon,  4^0'  this  might  gratify  Mr.  Gobbet  as  much 
as  my  having  a  place  in  the  poor  houfe  in  Philadel- 
phia. 

SINCE 


44 


To  the 


SINCE  this  Poflfcript  was  fent  to  the  prefs  the  fol- 
lowing article,  reflecting  on  Mr.  Cooper  and  myfelf, 
has  appeared  in  the  Reading  Newfpafer  of  Oftober  26, 

1799 

"  Thomas  Cooper  s  addrefs  to  the  readers  of  the  Sun- 

c  bury  and  Northumberland  Gazette,  of  which  he  was 
1  Editor,  having  been  re-publifhed  in  this  State,  with  an 

*  introduction  approbatory  of  the  piece,  a  correipondent 
'  wifhes  to  know  if  it  be  the  fame  Thomas  Cooper,  an  En- 
e  gliihman,  of  whom  the  following  anecdote  is  related  ? 

*  If  it  is,  every  paper  devoted  to  truth,  honor  and  decen- 
c  cy.   ou^ht  to  give  it  a  thorough  circulation." 

"  Not  man}'  months  ago,  it  is  faid,  a  Mr.  Cooper,  an 
'  Englifhman,  applied  to  the  PRESIDENT  of  the  Uni- 
'  ted  States  to  be  appointed  "  agent  for  fettling  the  ref- 

*  pective  claims  of  the  citizens  and  fubje&s  of  this  coun- 

*  try  and  Great    Britain."     In  his  letter  he  informs  the 
{  PRESIDENT  that  although  he  (Thomas  Cooper  J  had 
f  been  called  a  Democrat,  yet  his  real  political  feritimentf 

*  were  fuch  as  would  be  agreeable  to  the  PRESIDENT 
'  and  government  of  the  United  States,  or  expreffions  to 
'  thai  effect.      This  letter  was  accompanied  with  another 

*  from.  Dr.  Jofcph  Priejllcy,  who  did  not  fail  to  a  flare 
:  th-"  PRDsiDENT,of  the  plifllity  of  his  friend  Cooper's 
1  democratic  principles.    TheT  RESIDENT  it  is  faid,  re- 
e  jtSicd-  Cooper's  application  with  difi^yjmd  Priejlley's 
'  with  iliii  ftronger  marks  of  furprife,  T^^ng,  it  is  faid,  as 
f  he  threw   the  letter  on  the  table,  does  he  think  that  I 

*  would  appoint  any  Englifhman  to  thai!  important  office 
<  in  preference  to  an  American  !  —  What  was  the  confe- 
e  quence  ?  —  When  Thomas  Cooper  found  his  application 
1  for  a  lucrative  office  under  OUT  PRESIDENT  reje&ed  he 
'  writes  in  revenge  the  addrefs  which    ha*  appeared  in 
'  print,  and  Dr.  Prieftlcy  exerted  his  influence  in  difper- 
'  ling  this  very  addrefs,  which  he  mufl  know  was  the  ofF- 

*  fpringof  difappointment  and  revenge  !  !  !" 

"  The  addrefs  is  as  cunningand  infiduomsaproduc- 

*  tion 


Of  Northumberland,   tfc.  45 

c  tion  as  ever  appeared  in  the  Aurora,  or  the  old  Chro- 
'  nicltf,  and  as  for  impudence  it  exceeds,  oral  leafl equals 
-'  Porcupine  himfelf. — Priefiley  and  Cooperate  bothcal- 
*  led  upon  to  deny  the  above  narrative.  A  recourfe  to  the 
'  letters  themfelves  would  eftablifh  the  accuracy  of  this 
;  anecdote  even  to  a  fyllable." 


Of  the  candour  and  juftice  of  this  reprefentation 
my  reader  will  judge  from  the  tenor  of  the  letters  refer- 
red to,  of  which  the  following  are  copies. 

Auguft  12,   1797. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IT  was  far  from  being  my  intention,  or  my 
wifh,  to  trouble  you  with  the  rcqueft  of  any  favours,  tho' 
it  is  now  in  your  power  to  grant  them;  and  it  is  not  at  all 
probable  that  I  mall  ever  take  a  fecond  liberty  of  the 
kind.    But  circumftances  have  arifen  which,  I  think,  call 
upon  me  to  do  it  once,  tho'  not  for  myfelf  but  a  friend. 
The  office  of  Agent  for  American  claims,  was  offered,  I 
underftand,to  Mr.  Hallof  Sunbury,andhehas-declinedit. 
If  this  be  the  cafe,  and  no  otherperfon  be  yet  fixed  upon, 
I  fhouid  be  very  happy  if  I  could  ferve  Mr.  Cooper  (a 
man,  I  doubt  not,  of  at  leall  equal  ability,  and  poifelfed 
of  every  other   qualification  for  the  office)  by  recom- 
mending him.     It  is  true  that  both  he  and  myfelf  fall, 
in  the  language  of  our  calumniators,  under  the  defcrip- 
tion  of  Democrats,  who  are  ftudioufly  reprefented  as  e- 
nemies  to  what  is  called  government  both  in  England 
ar  .  here.     What  /  have  done  to  de ferve  that  character 
you  well  know,  and  Mr.  Cooper  has   done  very  little 
more.     In  fact,  we  have  both  been  perfecuted  for  being 
fnuids  to  American  liberty,   and  our  preference  of   the 
government  of  this  country  has  brought  us  both  hither* 
However,  were  the  accufation  true,  I  think  the  appoint- 
ment 


46  To  tht  Inhabitants 

ment  of  a  man  of  unqueftionable  ability  and  fidelity 
to  his  truft,  for  which  I  would  make  myfelf  anfwerable, 
would  be  fuch  a  mark  of  fupenority  to  popular  preju- 
dice as  I  fhould  expect  from  you.  /  therefore  think  it 
no  unfavourable  circumflance  in  the  recommendation. 
That  you  will  act  according  to  your  bed  judgment  I 
have  no  doubt,  with  refpect  to  this  and  other  affairs  of 
infinitely  more  moment,  thro*  which  I  am  perfuaded 
you  will  bring  the  country  with  reputation  to  yourfelf, 
tho',  in  circumftances  of  fuch  uncommon  difficulty,  per- 
haps with  lefs  eafe  and  fatisfaction.  than  I  could  wiffi. 
\\  ith  my  earned  wiihes  for  the  honour  and  tranquiiity  of 
your  Prefmency, 

I  am,   Dear  Sir, 

yours  fincerely, 

JOSEPH  PRIESTLEY. 


SIR, 

ON  my  expre  fling  an  inclination  for  the 
office  which  Mr.  Hall  has  declined,  Dr.  Prieftley  was 
fa  good  as  to  offer  his  fcrvices  with  you  on  my  behalf. 

Probably  the  office  will  be  filled  'ere  this  letter  can 
reach  you  :  probably  there  may  be  objections  to  nomi- 
nating a  perfon  not  a  native  of  the  country  :  probably 
the  objection  mentioned  by  Dr.  Priejlley  may  reafonably 
be  deemed  of  weight  in  my  injlance.  Be  all  this  as  it 
may,  I  fee  no  impropriety  in  the  prefent  application  to 
be  appointed  Agent  of  American  claims,  for  it  is  itill 
poffible  I  may  fuppofe  more  weight  in  the  objections 
than  they  will  be  found  to  deferve.  If  it  fhould  fo  hap- 
pen that  I  am  nominated  to  that  office  I  mall  endeavour 
to  merit  the  character  the  Doclor  has  given  of  me,  and 
your  efleem.  I  am,  &c. 

THOMAS  COOPER. 

From 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  47 

From  my  letter  it  will  c  learly  appear  that  I  was 
far  from  propofing  any  derileclion  of  principles  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Cooper.  I  (hem Id  as  foon  have  expecled 
it  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Adams  himfeif.  I  was  L\\O  far 
from  intending  any  affront  to  Mr.  Adams,  for  whom  I 
always  had  a  very  high  efteem.  I  honoured  hirn  for 
his  integrity,  and  refpe£ted  even  what  I  thought  to  be 
his  prejudices.  Befides.  he  was  then  juft  entered  on  his 
office  of  Preiident,  and  had  not  done  any  thing  to  offend 
per fons  of  Mr.  Cooper's  political  principles. 

I  thought  Mr.  Cooper  fingularly  well  qualified 
for  difcharging  the  duties  of  the  office  in  queftion  on 
account  of  his  knowledge  of  Englifh  law  and  Engliili 
commerce,  as  well  as  for  his  acknowledged  ability  and 
a&ivity.  I  alfo  thought  that  I  was  giving  Mr.  Adams 
an  opportunity  of  ferving  himfelf,  by  fhewing  his  libe- 
rality, in  favouring  a  perfon  whofe  political  principles 
differed  from  his  own,  but  in  a  cafe  in  which  they  could 
not  interfere  with  them.  At  the  fame  time  he  would 
have  obliged  a  perfon  for  whom  he  always  profeffed 
much  efteem,  and  whom  he  had  honoured  with  his 
correfpondence  and  mtercourfe. 

The  following  obfervations  on  the  general  fubjeft 
of  appointment  to  offices,  which  I  wrote  fome  time  ago, 
will,  not,  I  flatter  myfelf,  be  thought  improperly  fub- 
joined  here,  and  may  recommend  themielves  as  of  fome 
importance  to  impartial  perfons  of  all  parties.  Let  the 
Prefident  in  queftion  be  either  Mr.  Adams  or  Mr.  Jef- 
ferfon. 

To  have  the  higher  officers  of  the  ftate,  thofe  with 
whom  it  may  be  proper  to  confult  in  the  general  con- 
dud  of  affairs,  as  the  heads  of  the  feve-fal  departments, 
men  of  the  fame  political  principles  of  the  Preiident, 
could  not  be  complained  of.  But  when  all  offices,  e- 
ven  fuch  as  are  merely  lucrative,  are  confined  to  one 
party,  it  naturally  exafpcrates  thofe  of  oppofite  princi- 
ples, and  greatly  promotes  a  fpirit  of  party  in  the  coun- 
try, 


^8      To  the   Inhabitants  of  Northumberland,  &?c. 

try  and  this  may  proceed  fo  far  as  to  hazard  a  civil 
war.  It  is,  therefore,  the  part  of  good  policy,  as  well 
as  of  magnanimity,  to  di (tribute  all  offices  with  as  equal 
a  hand  as  pofiible.  Otherwife,  inflead  of  being  the 
chief  of  the  nation,  a  Prelident  makes  himfelf  the  head 
of  a  particular  party. 

Should  all  the  partifans  of  fuch  a  Prefident  follow 
his  example,  and  employ  no  phyfician,  no  carpenter,  no 
mafon,  no  moemaker,  Sec.  but  men  of  their  own  poli- 
tical fentiments  ;  and  mould  thole  of  oppofitc  princi- 
ples, in  felf  defence,  do  the  fame,  it  would  be  a  ftat  of 
mutual  perfecution  on  account  of  opinion,  an  endea- 
vour to  exterminate  one  another  by  ftarving,  winch  ap- 
proaches very  nearly  to  an  attempt  to  effect  the  fame  by 
violence.  The  only  difference  is  that  of  taking  a  » ^wn 
by  blockade,  or  by  ftorm.  They  are  alikt  optiations 
of  open  war.  A  Preiident,  therefore,  who  wifhes  to 
promote  the  peace  of  ths  country  will  carefully  avoid 
letting  fuch  an  example. 


ERRATA  et  CORRIGENDA. 

(b)  Jlgnijies  from  the  bottom. 

p.  14.  1.  11  (b)  for  am,  read  was. 

Ib.  1.  9  (b) — from  that  time — occafionally. 

p.  14.  1.     5 public — political. 

28.  1.     2 onfet — outfet. 

Ib.  !•     7  (b) — prevent — prevail. 


LETTERS 


TO     THE 


INHABITANTS 

O    I 

NORTHUMBERLAND 

AND     ITS 

NEIGHBOURHOOD, 

On  Subjects  inter  cfting  to  the  AUTHOR, 
and  to  THEM. 

PART   IL 


By  JOSEPH  PRIESTLEY,  L.  L.  D.  *..*.*.  ftc. 


-Nunquamne  reponam? 

JuvenaL 


NORTHUMBERLAND : 

^x, 

Printed  for  the  AUTHOR  by  ANDREW  KENNEDY. 


UDCCXCIX, 


TO     THE 

INHABITANTS  or   NORTHUMBERLAND 

AND    ITS 

NEIGHBOURHOOD. 


LETTER    VIII. 

Of  the  Innocence  and  Advantage  of  the  free  DifcuJJien  of 
all  political  Subjects 

My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

HAVING  promifed  you  a  full  con- 
feffion  of  all  my  political  crimes  and  mifdemeanors,  and 
having  in  the  preceding  Letters  made  a  faithful  decla- 
ration concerning  what  /  am,  and  what  I  have  done  a- 
mong  you,  I  proceed  to  give  you  fome  of  my  thoughts ; 
and  tho'  you  might,  in  fome  meafure,  have  guened  at 
them  thro'  the  medium  of  my  a&ions,  I  will  fave  you 
that  trouble,  and  tell  you  more  of  my  thoughts  than 
any  knowledge  you  have  of  my  a&ions  could  poffibly 
have  enabled  the  moil  fagacious  of  you  to  difcover. 
But  in  order  to  do  this  fairly  and  honeftly,  you  muft 
excufe  me  if,  after  fpeaking  of  my  own  faults,  I  touch 
a  little  upon  yours,  tho'  I  mall  do  this  with  as  gentle  a 
hand  as  poflible. 

You  muft,  however,  confider,    that  tho'  I    may 
point  out  what  appears  to  me  to  be  a  fault,   you  will, 
,©f  courfe,  be  the  judges  in  your  own  caufe,    and  ac- 
knowledge 


4  To  the   Inhabitant 

knowledge  it  or  not  as  you  may  fee  rcafon ;  and  alfo  that 
it  is  not  in  my  power,  but  altogether  in  yours,  to  find 
the  proper  remedy.  As  a  fenfible  Pope  faid  to  fome 
Englifhmen  who  were  introduced  to  him,  when  he  un- 
expeftedly  gave  them  his  benedi&ion  in  the  ufual  form 
at  parting,  "  The  bleffing  of  an  old  man  can  do  you 
"  no  harm ;"  fo  the  advice  of  an  old  man,  as  I  am,  how- 
ever improper,  or  impertinent,  cannot  hurt  you.  My 
trouble  in  writing  is  not  much,  and  yours  in  reading 
is  flill  lefs. 

Prefuming,  as  I  hope  I  may,  that,  after  the  apo- 
logy I  have  made  for  writing  thefe  Letters,  you  will  not 
think  it  impertinent  in  me,  tho'  an  alien,  to  give  you 
my  thoughts  on  any  uibjecl;  relating  to  the  conduct  of 
public  affairs  (in  which  I  am  as  much  interefted  as  a- 
ny  of  you  can  be)  I  fhall  take  the  liberty  to  requcft 
more  of  your  attention  to  fotne  particular  articles,  than 
you  feem  to  me  to  have  given  to  them.  I  may  alfo 
plead  that  this  is  the  only  way  in  which  I  can  contri- 
bute to  the  redrefs  of  any  grievance  of  which  I  may 
think  I  fee  caufe  to  complain.  For,  being  an  alien,  I  am 
neither  eligible  to  any  office  of  truft  myfelf,  nor  have  I 
a  vote  for  any  candidate.  But  the  loweft  fervant  in  a 
family,  if  he  thinks  that  any  thing  is  going  wrong,  may 
fpeak  of  it  to  any  of  his  fellow  fervants,  even  to  the 
fteward,  or  to  the  mailer  himfelf,  whether  they  will  at- 
tend to  him  or  not. 

Nothing,  however,  is  more  common  with  the  friends 
of  the  adminiflration  in  all  countries  than  to  confider  e^ 
very  cenfure  of  public  meafures  as  an  attack  upon  the^ 
vernment  of  the  country,  and  every  cenfure  of  the  go- 
vernment as  a  thing  hoftile  to  the  -people.  But  it  is  with- 
out any  good  reafon  jn  either  of  the  cafes.  Will  it  be 
pretended  that  all  magiftrates,  and  all  minifters  of  Hate, 
are  infallible,  or  impeccable  ?  If  not,  they  may  mif- 
take  the  interefl  of  the  country,  or  confult  their  own  in- 
bereft  at  its  expense.  May  not,  then,  a  perfon  who 

thinks 


Of  Northumberland,  t3c.  5 

thinks  them  to  be  ckher  miftaken,  or  difhoneft,  and 
that  the  people  at  large  are  in  danger  of  being  injured 
by  their  conduct,  point  it  out  to  his  countrymen.  Nay, 
is  it  not  the  abfolute  duty  of  every  honeft  man  to  give 
to  others  the  information  that  he  has  acquired  himielf. 
According  to  the  principles  of  your  conftitution,  all 
perfons  entrufted  with  the  conduct  ot  public  affairs, 
how  high  foever  you  have  placed  them,  are  but  your 
fervants,  and  accountable  to  you  for  their  conduct  in 
office. 

Farther,  if  any  perfon  mould  conceive  that  any  thing 
in  the  very  conftitution  of  the  government  itfelf  might 
be  changed  for  the  better,  is  he  an  enemy  to  the  people 
for  propofing  it  ?  It  is  only  giving  his  opinion  con- 
cerning what  he  imagines  will  be  for  their  good,  Tho* 
he  be  miftaken,  his  intention  may  be  the  beft  in  the 
world,  and  therefore  he  will  be  entitled  to  their  thanks. 
If  I  were  to  advife  you  to  change  the  whole  form 
of  your  government,  from  a  republic  to  an  abfolute  mo- 
narchy, I  mould  do  you  no  harm,  fince  you  would  be 
at  liberty  to  receive  or  reject  the  propofal  as  you  thought 
proper.  I  might  fay  that  a  Prefident  like  yours  would 
make  a  poor  appearance  in  the  prefence  of  a  king,  that 
kingly  government  has  both  more  dignity  and  more  c- 
nergy  than  yours  ;  that  fuch  a  man  as  the  late  king  of 
Pruflia,  or  Peter  the  Great  of  Ruflia,  would  prefently 
rid  you  of  all  traitorous  and  feditious  perfons,  without 
troubling  your  courts  of  juftice  with  them,  which  would 
be  a  great  faving  of  expence  ;  that  fuch  a  government 
would  keep  all  the  country  perfectly  quiet ;  that  then 
the  lower  orders  of  the  people,  having  nothing  to  do 
with  politics,  would  attend  to  their  proper  bufinefs,  of 
agriculture,  manufactures,  or  commerce,  without  dif- 
fraction, and  their  affairs  would  profper  in  proportion  ; 
and  that  thofe  of  the  higher  orders,  the  more  opulent, 
not  being  obliged  to  give  any  part  of  their  time  to  the 
#udy  of  the  theory  of  government,  would  have  more  lei- 

fure 


6  To  the  Inhabitants 

Cure  to  attend  to  the  improvement  of  the  polite  arts 
and  fcience,  to  the  glory  of  the  monarch  in  the  firft 
place,  and  their  own  reputation  in  the  fecond. 

But  if,  notwithstanding  all  that  I  could  urge  in  fa- 
vour of  fuch  a  government,  you  mould  prefer  what  you 
call  liberty,  in  which  perfons  of  all  ranks,  qualified  or 
unqualified,  give  the  greattft  part  of  their  time  to  a  fub- 
je6l  which  they  will  never  undtrfland,  and  ftill  chufe  to 
clamour,  and  almoft  fight,  about  endlefs  elections  of 
magiftrates,  no  harm  would  be  done.  You  might  pro- 
ceed juft  as  you  had  done  before. 

If,  in  order  to  prevent  the  mifchief  that  often  ari- 
fes  from  competition,  I  fhould  advife  that,  inftead  of  ma- 
king a  king  of  any  native  American,  who  would  not 
foon  acquire  the  proper  difpofition  and  habits  of  one, 
you  mould  return  to  your  former  allegiance  to  the 
king  of  Great  Britain,  a  king  ready  formed  to  your 
hands,  who  would,  no  doubt,  forgive  all  that  was 
pad,  and  promife  you  the  beft  treatment  for  the  future, 
and  thus  become  a  wing  of  that  great  empire  which  now 
commands  the  world,  and  fhare  in  the  honour  of  exter- 
minating all  Jacobinifm,  democracy,  anarchy,  and  irre*- 
ligion  (all  which  are  now  only  confidercd  as  different 
names  of  the  fame  thing)  and  you  mould  not  quite  like 
the  propofal,  I  fhould  liill  hope  to  be  excufed  for  ma- 
king it,  from  my  loyalty  to  my  natural  fovereign.  and 
my  zeal  for  the  honour  of  my  native  country,  even  if  I 
did  not  coufult  your  interefl  in  it  ;  and  as  you  would 
not  be  hurt,  you  could  not  be  much  offended. 

Mr.  Cobbet,  a  greater  admirer  of  England  than  I 
am,  would,  no  doubt,  go  farther  than  I  could  in  its  com- 
mendation. He  might  fay  that,  could  you  but  fee  the 
king  of  Great  Britain  in  his  (late  coach,  drawn  by  eight 
cream  colouied  horfes,  with  all  his  horfe  guards,  fur^ 
rounded  by  perhaps  a  hundred  thoufand  admiring  fpec- 
tators,  in  his  progrefs  thro'  St.  j  ames's  park ;  and  after  that 
fee  himfeated  in  his  robes  on  the  throne  in  the  houfe  of 

Lords, 


Of  Northumberland,  &? c.  ^ 

Lords,  with  all  the  Lords  and  Bifhops  in  their  robes ;  could 
you  fee  him  ferved  on  the  knee,  and  perfons  killing  his 
hand,  you  would  be  afharaed  of  your  Prefident,  and 
every  thing  belonging  to  him.  He  might  fay  that  an 
American  would  be  flruck  dumb  at  the  fight  of  an  En- 
giifh  judge  feated  in  his  fcarlet  robe  on  the  bench,  with 
all  the  lawyers  in  their  gowns,  and  flowing  wigs.  He 
would  fay  that  the  beft  man  among  you  was  hardly  fit 
to  be  made  a  jufticc  of  the  peace  in  England.  And 
then  what  is  your  navy  ?  It  is  not  fojmuch  as  the  frog 
compared  to  the  ox  in  the  fable ;  and  might  bid  you  take 
care  left  the  ox  fhould  fet  his  foot  upon  it. 

But  fhould  you  confider  all  this  as  mere  prejudice 
in  favour  of  our  native  country,  and  think  there  was 
more  Ihew  than  fubftance  in  kingly  governments,  that 
armies  and  navies  eoft  more  than  they  are  worth,  and 
that  you  could  employ  your  funds  to  more  advantage, 
you  would  only  fmile  at  our  reprefentations,  and  not 
be  angry. 

To  be  perfectly  ferious :  in  all  countries,  and  under 
every  form  of  government,  opinions  of  every  kind,  and 
thofe  of  all  perfons,  natives  or  aliens,  in  office  or  out  of 
office,  fhould  be  perfectly  free ;  becaufe  they  can  do  no 
harm  ;  tho'  overt  affis,  tending  to  the  forcible  fubverfion 
of  any  government,  fhould  be  watched  with  the  greatefi 
care. 

A  perfon  may  even  be  fafely  trufted  with  the  admi- 
niftration  of  the  affairs  of  a  country  the  conftitution  of 
whofe  government  he  does  not  approve.  Admitting, 
for  inftance,  what  is  commonly  fuppofed,  and  is  not  al- 
together improbable,  that  Mr.  Adams,  the  Prefident, 
fhould  think  an  hereditary  monarchy  preferable  to  an  c- 
ItBcd  Executive,  like  that  of  this  country  ;  being  of  o- 
pinion  that  fuch  a  form  of  government  is  more  favoura- 
ble to  the  peace  and  happinefs  of  the  people ;  yet,  yield- 
ing, as  every  man  muft  do,  to  the  opinion  of  the  ma- 
jority of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  dreading,  as  all  wife 

men 


8  To  the  Inhabitant* 

men  will,  the  hazard  of  any  great  change,  or  revoluti- 
on, in  the  government,  he  may  faithfully  adminifter  that 
which  he  has  fworn  to  maintain ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that,  whatever  may  be  his  private  opinion  on  the 
fubject,  he  will  do  it  to  the  beft  of  his  ability. 

All  that  we  have  to  apprehend  in  fuch  a  cafe  is 
from  the  opinions  of  perfons  in  high  offices  becoming 
general;  and  it  is,  doubtlefs,  much  in  their  power  to 
recommend  their  opinions  to  general  acceptance.  But 
even  then,  if  the  people  at  large  really  approve  of  the 
change  propofed,  he  will  be  entitled  to  their  gratitude 
for  bringing  it  about.  Nothing  is  to  be  dreaded  but 
violence,  "which  we  need  not  fear  will  ever  be  attempt- 
ed in  this  country.  Let  every  thing,  efpecially  things 
of  importance,  be  propofed  to  free  difcuflion,  and  let 
truth  and  error  have  equal  advantage.  The  former  can- 
not fail  to  recommend  itfelf  to  univerfal  acceptance  in 
due  time,  and  the  latter  will  be  univerfally  exploded. 

I  am,  t&c. 


LETTER  IX. 

Of  Improvements  in  the  Conjlitution  of  the  United  States. 
My  Fsiends  and  Neighbours, 

MY  object  in  this  Letter  is  not  to  cri- 
ticife  J;he  whole  of  your  conftitution,  or  to  dwell  on  the 
gencr.il  excellence  of  it.  I  think  it  the  beft  that  has 
ever  'been  devifedby  man,  and  reduced  to  practice,  in 
any  stge,  or  in  any  part,  of  the  world.  It  has  every 
thing  that  is  valuable  in  the  Englifh  conftitution,  which 


Of  Northumberland,  t3c.  9 

was  confefledly  fuperior  to  any  other  in  Europe,  with- 
out its  defers.  Without  this  perfuafion  I  lliould  not 
have  come  among  you.  But  no  work  of  mm  can  be 
expected  to  be  perfc?6l ;  and  therefore  you  will  not,  I 
hope,  be  offended  if  I  mention  two  or  three  particulars, 
wirh  refpeft  to  which  I  think  it  might  be  improved. 
Of  this,  however,  you  will  judge  for  yourfelves.  The 
ITK  re  opinion  of  any  perfon,  and  efpecially  that  of  an 
alien,  cannot  do  you  any  harm. 

i.  If,  then,  I  may  take  the  liberty  to  cenfure  any 
article  in  your  conftitution,  the  firft  that  I  fliould  no- 
tice would  be  that  which  allows  of  the  eligibility  of 
auy  man  to  the  office  of  Prelident  for  life.  Hiftory 
abundantly  iliews  that  the  love  of  power  is  as  great  as 
that  of  money.  The  more  men  have  of  either,  the 
more  they  generally  wifh  to  have:  It  being  poffible, 
then,  by  your  conftitution,  fora  man  to  keep  this  high 
iituation  for  life,  by  being  clecled  into  it  every  four  years, 
he  has  an  intereft  in  enlarging  the  power  attached  to  it ; 
and  if  ambition  be  his  objecl;  (and  pure  patriotifm,  I 
fear,  exifts  only  in  Utopia)  he  will  ufe  every  means  that 
his  fifeuation  gives  him,  which  will  neceflarily  be  great, 
to  gain  friends  ;  efpecially  by  giving  offices  of  truft  and 
emolument  under  him,  not  to  thole  who  are  the  beft 
qualified  to  difcharge  the  duties  of  them,  but  to  thofe 
who  will  fecond  his  views  of  continuing  in  power.  And 
they  who  are  thus  favoured  by  him  will  naturally  con- 
cur in  promoting  his  intereft,  becaufe  it  will  lay  him 
under  an  additional  obligation  to  promote  theirs. 

Oa  the  contrary,  if  the  conftitution  was  fuch  as 
that  no  perfon  could  enjoy  an  office  of  fuch  power  as 
that  of  the  Prefident  longer  than  three  or  four  years, 
and  he  was  riot  eligible  to  it  again,  or  not  till  after  a 
confiderable  diftance  of  time,  it  would  not  be  his  inter- 
eft  to  make  friends  at  the  expence  of  his  country,  and 
he  would  not  wifh  to  enlarge  a  power  to  which  he  muft 
himfelf  foon  be,  and  remain,  iubjeft. 

B  Whatever 


io  To  the  Inhabitants 

Whatever  may  be  objected  to  the  conilitution  of 
France  in  other  relpecls,  in  this  it  is  preferable  to  trur  of 
this  country.  Since  each  of  the  five  dire&ons,  be  tides 
having  only  one  fifth  part  of  the  power  of  your  Prefi- 
dent,  muil  be  reduced  to  the  rank  of  a  common  citi- 
zen in  five  years,  the  temptation  he  is  under  to  extend 
his  power  is  much  lefs.  This  advantage,  however,  is 
probably  more  than  balanced  by  the  want  of  union,  and 
confequently  of  energy,  in  fuch  a  divided  executive. 

It  will  be  faid  that  the  longer  any  perfori  in  the 
executive  offices  of  government  continues  in  power,  the 
more  flable  and  uniform  the  meafures  of  government 
will  be ;  whereas  frequent  changes  will  be  attended  wit;h 
endlefs  fluctuations,  fo  that  foreign  powers  will  never 
know  what  to  look  to. 

But  this  inconvenience,  for  fuch  it  is  acknowledg- 
ed to  be,  only  takes  place  when  the  perfon  poffeffed  of 
this  power  has  no  will  but  his  own  to  follow,  as  in  go- 
vernments that  are  arbitrary,  like  that  of  Ruflia.  This 
empire  has  feldom  changed  its  head  without  a  total 
change  of  its  politics.  Peter  I II  found  his  country  at 
war  with  the  king  of  Pruffia,  and  inftantly  became  his 
ally.  This  alliance  the  cmprefs,  who  foon  fucceeded 
him,  changed  into  a  ftate  of  neutrality,  and  if  fhe  had 
pleafed,  it  might  have  been  hoftility  again. 

What  can  be  more  changeable  than  the  meafures 
of  the  fame  arbitrary  court,  directed  by  the  caprices  of 
different  courtiers  and  favourites.  Dumouriez  fays  that 
thofe  of  the  court  of  Verfailles,  in  his  time,  varied  with 
every  change  of  minifters,  of  factions,  of  miflreffes,  or 
of  favourites.  See  his  Life,  vol.  2,  p.  85. 

But  the  leaders  of  a  government  truly  republican, 
like  that  of  the  United  States,  will,  and  mufl,  take 
their  meafures  from  the  wifhes  of  the  people,  which  are 
not  fo  apt  to  change,  becaufe  they  flow  from  the  gene- 
ral intereft.  The  annual  change  of  the  Roman  con- 
fuls  never  occafioned  any  change  in  the  meafures  of  go- 
vernment, 


Of  Northumberland,   &c,  1 1 

vernment,  nor  did  the  annual  ele&ion  of  Doges  at  Ve- 
nice or  Genoa. 

It  will  alfo  be  faid  that  if  the  people  really  prefer 
any  particular  Prefident  to  any  other,  they  ought  to  be 
gratified,  and  not  be  under  a  neceffity  of  changing  him. 
But  in  A  country  of  fuch  an  extent  as  that  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  of  America,  there  muft,  furely,  be  more  than 
one  per  ion  whom  the  people  will  think  fufficiently  qua- 
lified to  furve  them,  and  in  whom  they  can  lafely  place 
confidence:  and  this  fmall  rcOnclion  of  their  choice 
will  be  abundantly  compenfated  by  putting  it  out  of  the 
power,  or  inclination,  of  any  Proficient  to  confult  his 
own  mtereft  at  the  cxpence  of  theirs. 

If  you  read  any  niflory,  you  will  find  that  an  at- 
tachment to  particular  perions  has  been  the  occafion  of 
unfpeakable  mifchief  in  all  countries.  Tho'  fome  in- 
convenience a  role  Irom  the  Romans  having  annual  con- 
fuls,  and  annual  generals,  it  was  found  to  be  trifling 
compared  with  thofe  which  were  the  confequence  of  the 
attachment  the  ioldiers  acquired  for  fuch  mtn  as  Mari- 
us  and  Sylla,  Caefar  and  Pompey,  who  were  fuffered 
to  continue  many  years  in  the  command  of  the  fame  ar- 
mies. It  was  the  true  caufe  of  that  fucceflion  of  dread- 
ful civil  wars,  which  did  not  end  but  with  the  tola1  fub- 
verfion  of  the  republican  form  of  government,  and  the 
eftablimment  of  one  that  was  purely  military  and  def- 
potic. 

2.  So  excellent  aconflitution  as  is  that  of  thiscoun- 
try  deferves  to  be  guarded  with  the  greateil  care ;  and 
yet  in  this  refped  it  appears  to  me  to  be  defective,  as  it 
contains  no  fufficient  provifion  for  guarding  againft  vi- 
olations of  it  by  perfons  entrufled  with  its  adrmniflra- 
tion.  To  decide  in  queflions  of  this  high  and  ferious 
nature,  there  fhould,  I  think,  be  afpecial  court,  con- 
fifling  of  deputies  from  all  the  ftates  of  the  union. 

The  greateft  danger  of  any  encroachment  on  the 
conflitmion  is  from  the  congrcfs  miftaking  or  exceeding 

their 


1 2  To  the  Inhabitants 

their  power  ;  and  by  proceeding  without  any  check  of 
this  kind,  they  might  gradually  aflame  all  the  power  of 
the  Englifh  parliament,  which  is  uncontrouled  by  any 
defined  confutation.  And  certainly  no  body  of  men 
mould  be  judges  in  their  own  caufe. 

The  ordinary  judges,  tho'  continuing  in  office  du- 
ring their  good  behaviour,  and  not  removeable  at  any 
perfon's  pleafure.  are  fo  connected  with  perfons  in  pow- 
er, and  efpecially  thole  from  whom  they  received  their 
appointments,  that  they  have  been  found,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  to  favour  the  exifiing  admini frration  in  all 
countries,  and  in  all  times. 

I  would  alfo  take  the  liberty  to  propofe  that  it 
fhould  be  in  the  power  of  the  legiflature  of  any  of  the 
feparate  dates  to  call  this  fpecuil  court,  and  lay  before 
it  whatever  they  fhould  apprehend  to  have  been  a  vio- 
lation oi  the  couflitution,  by  the  Congrefs,  the  Prefi- 
dent,  or  any  man,  or  body  of  men.  whatever. 

3.  If  I  might  take  the  liberty  to  ceni'ure  not  only 
your  government,  but  th.-\t  of  every  other  in  the  world, 
it  would  be  your  requiring  oaths  •/  allegiance,  and  in- 
deed any  declaration  of  a  man's  principles  or  ientiments, 
in  words  or  writing.  Befides  being  an  abufe  of  reli- 
gion, and  a  temptation  to  prevaricate.  I  do  not  believe 
that  this  meafure  has  ever  been  iound  to  anfwer  the  end 
propofed  by  it.  On  one  pretence  or  other,  and  efpe- 
cially  that  of  perfons  being  compelled  to  take  them,  thro' 
the  impoflibility  of  avoiding  them,  it  will  be  main- 
tained by  many,  that  they  are  of  no  force  or  obligation ; 
and  in  many  countries  oaths  of  allegiance  have  been 
changed  toothers  inconuftent  with  them,  and  yet  not  ob- 
je&ed  to  on  that  account.  Witnefs  thofe  that  have  been 
taken  in  France  to  the  different  conftitutions  of  that 
country  fi-nce  the  abolition  of  monarchy. 

A  few  confcientious  perfons,  who  wifh  to  be  quiet, 
and  who  might  be  fafely  trufted  in  any  government,  will 
Scruple  to  take  iuch  oaths  :  and  by  this  means  good 

fubjeOs 


Of  Northumberland,    &c.  13 

fubje&s  are  excluded,  while  men  of  no  principle,  fuch 
as  alone  are  dangerous,  will  make  no  difficulty  of  ta- 
king any  oath  that  you  chufe  to  impofc. 

It  might,  furely,  be  fufficient  to  punifh  perfons 
redding  in  any  country  when  they  are  found  to  act  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  it.  For  my  own  part,  I  prefer  the 
iituation  of  an  alien,  inconvenient  as  it  is  in  feveral  ref- 
pects,  rather  than  make  the  haifh  declaration  which 
your  laws  require  refpectirig  the  country  of  which  I  am 
a  native  j  but  while  my  perfon  arid  my  property  are  in 
your  power,  have  you  not  iiiffich  nt  hold  upon  me, 
without  requiring  any  verbal  declaration  about  renoun- 
cing England,  and  of  my  attachment  to  America? 

It  may  be  prudent  not  to  admit  Grangers  to  offices 
of  truit  and  power  till  after  a  competent  time  of  refi- 
dence  ;  fo  that  it  may  be  prefumed  that  they  have  ac- 
quired a  fufficient  knowledge  of  your  laws  and  confli- 
tution,  and  a  proper  attachment  to  them.  But  the  de- 
claration of  this  by  an  oath  appears  to  me  to  be  fu- 
perflnous,  to  be  a  caufe  of  diftrcfs  to  the  confcienti-» 
ous  and  no  bar  whatever  to  thofe  whom  you  would 
wifh  to  keep  out  of  the  country. 

I  am,  &e. 


LETTER 


14  To  the  Inhabitants 


LETTER  X. 

Of  Infringments  of  the  Conjlitution  by  the  Afts  of  Con- 
grefs  r  effecting  the  Regulation  of  Commerce,  the  Power 
of  making  Peace  and  War,  and  ReJlriBions  of  the 
Freedom  of  Speech  and  of  the  Prefs. 

Friends  and  Neighbours, 

WHEN  I  left  England,  I  was  in- 
to  come  hither  chiefly  on  account  of  my  high 
admiration  of  the  confutation  of  your  government.  It 
was  at  that  time  the  only  one  that  had  been  drawn  up 
with  deliberation  by  perfons  appointed  for  that  exprefs 
purpofe,  and  folemnly  accepted  by  the  nation.  Jt  was 
wholly  founded  on  the  rights  of  mem.  and  thefovereign- 
ty  oj  the  people.  In  other  words  it  was  purely  republi- 
can, every  officer  being  chofen  by  the  people,  to  fervc 
them  for  a  limited  time,  and  afterwards  accountable  to 
them  for  their  conduct.  There  were  no  hereditary  ho- 
nours, or  powers  of  any  kind,  and  no  form  of  religion 
^eftablifhed  by  law.  The  power  of  making  peace  or 
war,  and  alfo  that  of  regulating  commerce  with  foreign 
nations,  as  well  as  among  yourfelves,  was  wifely  placed 
in  the  Congrefs,  of  which  your  immediate  reprefenta- 
tives  (who  are  the  mod  intereiled  in  every  thing  of  this 
kind)  are  the  mod  effential  part.  Your  country  was 
then  open  to  all  new  comers  without  any  reftriction; 
and  that  great  and  neceffary  guard  of  liberty  the  free- 
dom of  fpeech  and  of  the  prefs.  was  uncontrolled.  Your 
conftitution  exprefsly  fays  that  "  the  migration  of  fuch 
61  perfons  as  any  ftate  then  exifling  fhould  think  pro- 
"  per  to  admit  fhould  not  be  prohibited  by  Congrefs 
"  till  the  year  1808 ;  and  that  the  Congrefs  fhould  make 

"  no 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  15 

cc  no  law  abridging  the  freedom  of  fpcech  or  of  the 
"  prefs." 

To  my  great  furprize  and  mortification,  however, 
I  now  find  that  feveral  of  thefe  articles,  effential  to  a 
truly  free  government,  have  been,  in  my  opinion,  on 
one  pretence  or  other,  infringed.  Or,  if  the  prefent 
Hate  of  things  be  really  agreeable  to  the  Conftitution, 
it  was  not  drawn  up  for  the  ufe  of  plain  men,  but  of 
veiy  acute  lawyers  only.  Certainly  the  comment  does 
not  naturally  flow  from  the  text  ;  or  there  was  in 
the  letter  of  the  conftitution  a  latent  ambiguity,  which 
defeats  the  profefled  object  of  it.  Thus  becaufe  your 
Conftitution  gives  to  the  Prefident,  and  two  thirds  of 
the  Senate,  the  power  of  making  treaties  with  foreign 
powers,  and  treaties  may  relate  to  any  fubjeQ:  in  which 
different  ftates  may  be  concerned,  they  may  make  trea- 
ties of  alliance,  ojfenji-ve  and  defenfive,  and  alib  treaties 
of  commerce  ;  and  by  this  means  all  interference  of  the 
proper  reprefentatives  of  the  people  either  in  the  bufi- 
nefs  of  commerce,  or  of  peace  and  -war,  in  which  they 
are  mod  concerned,  and  in  which  they  therefore  ought 
^in  reafon  to  have  the  mofl  control,  is  effectually  pre- 
cluded. The  treaty,  fhackling  their  commerce,  or  in- 
volving them  in  a  war,  is  aftually  made  independently 
of  them,  and  all  their  objections  to  it  have  no  effeft. 

Since  treaties  become  parts  of  the  law,  by  which 
the  courts  of  juftice  are  bound,  I  do  not  fee  but  thatifc 
is  in  the  power  of  the  Prefident  and  two  thirds  of  the 
fenate,  that  is  I  believe  of  twenty  one  men,  to  bind 
the  country  in  all  cafes  whatever.  For  what  is  there 
that  may  not  be  introduced  into  fome  treaty  ?  In  this 
way  this  country  might  have  become  a  party  in  the  trea- 
ty of  Pilnitz  or  of  Pavia,  and  thus  have  been  engaged, 
tho'  ever  fo  reluctantly,  in  the  coalition  againfl  the  li- 
berties of  France,  and  of  Europe  in  general. 

It  is,  moreover,  contended  by  the  friends,  as  they 
are  called,  of  government,  that  when,  in  confsquence 

of 


16  To  the   Inhabitants 

of  any  treaty,  money  is  to  be  raifed  to  carry  it  intoef- 
ik'l.  the  representatives  of  the  nation,  who  give  the  mo- 
Bey,  muft  aofolutely  raife  the  (urn  required,  or  as  the 
parafe  is,  make  the.  appropriations;  having  no  other 
choice  than  that  of  railing  it  in  what  they  may  think  the 
bed  m. inner. 

This  is  a  power  which  even  the  parliament  of  Great 
Britain  has  not  yet  been  brought  to  furrender.  There 
the  king  has,  indeed,  the  nominal  power  of  making 
peace  and  war,  and  alfo  treaties  of  every  kind.  But  if 
money  be  neceflary  to  carry  them  into  execution,  the 
treaties  come  under  difcuffion  in  the  Houfe  of  Com- 
mons, and  the  people  give  or  with-hold  their  money 
as  they  think  proper ;  fo  that  they  have  a  virtual  ne- 
gative on  all  the  meafures  of  the  court ;  and  certainly 
it  is  highly  reafonable  that  they  mould  have  it.  And 
was  not  this  intended  by  the  framers  of  your  conftitu- 
tion  too  ?  Could  they  give  the  Congrefs  the  power  of 
making  peace  and  war,  and  alfo  that  of  regulating  com- 
merce in  one  part  of  that  inftrumtnt,  and  take  it  out 
of  their  hands  in  another.  Such  manifefl  inconfiflency 
and  deceit  is  not  to  be  fuppofed. 

It,  therefore,  appears  moft  clearly  to  me,  who  am 
a  flranger  among  you,  that  the  real  meaning  and  intent 
of  the  conflitution  in  thefe  two  effential  articles  has 
been  perverted,  that  a  moft  important  power  has  been 
taken  from  the  many,  and  transferred  to  the  few,  and 
that  the  moft  valuable  interefts  of  the  former  have  been 
furrendered  to  the  latter.  If  in  this  I  reafon  wrong, 
I  wifh  to  be  fet  right.  But  I  p re  fume  that  your  con- 
Jlitution  was  drawn  up  for  the  ufe  of  the  citizens  at  large, 
and  in  fuch  language  as  it  was  thought  they  might  un- 
derftand;  and  this  language  being  Englifh,  I  may  be 
fuppofed  tounderftand  it  as  well  as  yourfelves.  Your 
conftitution  is  not  like  that  of  the  Engliih  government. 
to  be  looked  for  in  remote  hiftory,  or  collected  from 
the  actual  extrcife  of  it,  like  the  principles  of  the  com- 
mon 


Of  Northumberland,   &c,  17 

tnon  law.  It  is  committed  to  writing,  and  was  made 
in  the  memory  of  perfons  now  living ;  To  that  the  real 
meaning  of  every  article  of  it,  and  the  reafons  on  which 
they  were  founded,  are  well  known. 

So  evident  is  it,  in  my  opinion,  that  the  alien  and 
f edition  ath  are  unconftitutional,  that  I  (hall  not  en- 
Jarge  on  the  proof  of  this.  It  is  ("ufficient,  I  think,  to 
obferve  withrefpeftto  them,  that  the  Congrefs  have  made 
lav/s  (if  unconftitutional  afts  can  be  called  laws)  on 
fubjefts  with  refpeft  to  which  they  were  exprefsl  y-  forbid- 
den by  the  conftitution  to  make  any.  I  (hall,  there- 
fore, content  myfelf  with  making  fome  obfervations  en 
the  nature  and  tendency  of  them. 

Laws  calculated  to  reflrain  the  freedom  of  fpeech 
and  of  the  prefs,  which  have  always  been  made  on  the 
pretenfe  of  the  afatfcof  them,  are  of  fo  fufpicious  a  na- 
ture in  themfelves,  and  have  been  fo  conftantly  the 
refort  of  arbitrary  governments,  that  I  was  beyond 
meafure  aftonifhed  to  find  them  introduced  here;  and 
yet  in  fome  re fp efts  the  laws  that  have  lately  been 
made  by  Con^refs  are  more  fevere  than  thofe  in  Eng- 
land. 

While  the  prefs  is  open  to  the  friends,  as  well  as 
the  enemies,  of  thofe  in  power,  I  fee  no  good  reafon 
why  they  mould  not  be  content  to  defend  themfelves 
with  the  fame  weapons  with  which  they  are  attacked. 
Why  mould  any  man  fhelter  himfelf  behind  penal  laws 
when  he  is  attacked  by  argument,  if  it  was  in  his  pow- 
er to  defend  himfelf  in  the  fame  way.  Argument  an- 
Ivvers  the  purpofe  fo  much  more  effeftually  than  force, 
that  it  is  reafonable  to  conclude,  that  recourfe  will  ne- 
ver be  had  to  the  latter,  but  when  there  is  a  failure  of 
the  former.  Why  do  we  ufe  a  rod  to  children,  but 
becaufe  they  are  incapable  of  hearing  reafon  ?  In  no 
country  will  there  ever  be  wanting  men  fufficiently 
able,  and  willing,  to  defend  the  conduft  of  the  govern- 
ing powers.  To  this  (landard  men  of  genius  are  rea- 

C  dy 


1 8  To  the  Inhabitants 

dv  enough  to  run,  from  motives  that  do  not  need  to  b« 
pointed  -Kit. 

A  •  vn*re  opinions  concerning  the  conduct  of  per- 
fons  in  public  offices  ou^ht  to  be  as  free  as  any  other 
opinions  concerning  fubje&s  that  are  intcrefting  to 
the  community.  In  faft,  it  is  no  more  than  matters 
cenfurin.j;  the  coniuctof  their  fervants.  For  every  in- 
dividual is  a  p  irt  of  the  great  inafs,  for  the  ufe  of  whom 
all  governments  were  instituted.  But  perfons  in  office, 
which  neceifrinly  implies  fervitudc,  being  ufually  called 
governors,  are  apt  to  arrogate  to  themfelves  the  prero- 
gatives of  mafters ;  and  their  friends  and  flatterers  call 
almoft  every  cenfure  on  their  conduct,  every  thing 
that  has  in  it  more  of  freedom  than  they  like,  in  fpeaking 
or  writing.,  f edition  or  treafon  :  whereas,  in  reafon,  no- 
thing ought  to  be  fo  termed,  that  does  not  immediately 
affect  the  peace  of  the  country. 

The  characters,  or  the  lives,  of  perfons  in  office, 
by  whatever  names  they  may  be  called,  ought  not  to 
be  confidered  in  any  other  light  than  thofe  of  other 
individuals,  under  the  prote&ion  of  the  fame  laws. 
An  attempt  to  take  the  life  of  a  king  would  ne- 
ver have  been  confidered  as  high  treafon  in  Europe, 
if  kings  had  not  been  confidered  in  a  different  light 
from  that  of  the  fervanUof  the  Public.  Not  but  that 
ths  lives  of  all  public  officers,  civil  or  military,  even  that 
of  aconftable,  being  of  great  importance  to  the  fociety, 
the  crime  of  taking  them  away  is  greater  than  that  of 
the  murder  of  private  perfons  ;  but  Hill  it  is  a  different 
thing  from  that  of  high  treafon.  But  tho'  it  may  be 
proper  to  guard  the  lives  of  public  officers  by  fevere 
penal  laws,  there  is  no  neceffity  for  fuch  a  defence  of 
their  charafter^  or  public  conduct;  becaufe  they  may 
be  defended  by  the  fame  means  by  which  they  are  at- 
tacked. When  a  life  is  taken  the  mifchief  is  without 
remedy,  but  any  injury  done  to  a  character  may  be  re- 
paired. 

Governors 


Of  Northumberland,  G?c.  19 

Governors  vainly  endeavour  to  ward  off  impend- 
ing evils  by  impofing  filence  on  their  adverfaries.  Hif- 
tory  mews  that  no  government  ever  derived  any  per- 
manent advantage  from  meafures  of  this  kind.  The 
lefs  men  have  the  liberty  tofpeak,  the  more  they  will 
think;  and  they  naturally  fufpecl;  that  what  they  are 
forbidden  to  examine  will  not  bear  examination. 

In  no  country  was  there  ever  lefs  liberty  of  print- 
ing and  pub -idling  than  in  France  before  the 'revoluti- 
on. When  I  was  at  Paris,  in  1774,  the  tranflator  of 
the  firfl  volume  of  mv  Experiments  on  Air  could  not 
obtain  leave  to  publifh  the  whole  of  my  Preface,  which 
contained  fome  free  fentiments  concerning  the  general 
extenfion  of  knowledge.  The  infpe&or  of  the  prefs 
defired  a  friend  to  inform  me,  that  he  had  riot  himfelf 
any  objection  to  the  publication;  but  that  the  nature 
of  his  office  was  fiich,  that  it  would  be  too  hazardous 
for  him  to  admit  of  it. 

But  did  this  iln&nefs  prevent  the  revolution  ? 
The  freeft  publications  were  at  the  lame  time  circulated 
with  the  greatffl  induftry,  and  they  were  read  with  a- 
vidity,  and  with  tenfold  tffe6l,  in  conlequence  of  it. 
The  fame  will  be  the  cafe  in  every  other  country  in 
which  the  fame  meafures  (hall  be  adopted  ;  fo  that  with- 
out pretending  to  any  extraordinary  means  of  prying 
into  futurity,  we  may  predict,  that  the  caufe  of  monar- 
chy in  England,  and  that  of  fedcra lifm  in  this  coun* 
try,  will  be  no  gainers  eventually  by  what  their  advo- 
>*ates  are  doing  in  this  way. 

Jam,  &c. 


LETTER 


20  To  the   Inhabitants 


LETTER    XL 

Gf  the  Laws  relating  to  Aliens,  and  the  Naturalization 
of  Foreigners. 

My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

ALL  the  laws  refpecling  Aliens,  and 
thofe  thafe  are  calculated  to  throw  difficulties  in  the  way 
oi  naturalization,  have  been  made  fince  my  arrival  in 
the  country,  and  I  am  far  from  feeing  the  wifdom  of 
them.  Little  did  I  then  expect  that,  tho'  I  continued 
an  alien,  I  mould  not  have  the  right  of  a  trial  by  jury, 
which  your  conftitution  expreisly  gives  to  all  perfons 
without  exception,  if  I  mould  be  accuied  of  any  crime  ; 
whereas  I  now  find  that,  not  only  without  the  benefit 
of  a  jury,  but  that  even  without  a  trial,  or  indeed  any 
forma!  accufation,  your  Prefident  may,  of  his  own  fuf- 
picion  only,  fend  mo  out  of  the  country.  And  in  this 
cafe  perfect  innocence  is  no  fecunty  ;  fince  the  btft  of 
men  are  liable  to  prejudice,  and  open  to  falfe  informa- 
tion. 

It  is  not  denied  that  thofe  laws  were  intended  to 
jexclude  from  this  country  the  friends  of  liberty,  oppro- 
brioufly  called  Jacobins,  Democrats,  &c.  emigrating 
from  Europe,  a  defcription  of  men  in  which  I  am  proud 
to  rank  my  (elf.  But  confider  the  matter  calmly,  and 
fay  whether  you  can  think  the  obj eel;  worth  fecuring  by 
this  means.  What  does  this  country,  I  do  not  fay  the 
governors  of  it,  but  what  does  the  country,  what  do  y  cur- 
fdves,  gain  by  it.  You  certainly  do  not  now  want  peo- 
ple from  Europe.  Your  population  increafes  fail  c- 
nongh  without  this  additional  lource  j  -but  you  want  the 
cf  Europeans,  to  clear  your. caufctry,  and  culti- 
vate 


Of  Northumberland,  f3c.  21 

vate  your  lands,  and  you   cannot  expect  the  money 
without  the  men. 

Had  thofs  laws  been  made  fix  years  ago,  there 
would  not  have  been  an  Englifhman  in  this  place  ;  but 
tho'  the  makers  and  friends  of  the  laws  would  not  have 
been  lorry  for  this,  can  you  lay  the  fame  ?  Have  the  pro- 
prietors of  lands  and  houfes,  have  your  artizans,  and 
your  labouring  poor,  derived  no  advantage  from  our  re- 
lidence  among  you  ?  Have  you  not  been  benefited  by 
the  purchafes  we  have  made,  and  the  punctuality  of 
our  payments ;  and  what  is  perhaps  more  than  this,  by 
the  example  of  our  activity  and  induliry,  which  are  ha* 
bitual  to  Engliihmen  ? 

You  fee,  befidcs,  that  the  dread  of  our  politics, 
which  has  been  the  caufe  of  all  thefe  harm  laws,  is  al- 
together chimerical.  For  the  Engiilh  of  this  place  are 
not  more  a-r-ctl  on  this  fubjccl;  than  you  are  your- 
felves.  Several  of  us  are  as  good  federalifts  as  any  of 
you,  and  none  of  us  more  violently  democratical  tijan 
others  of  you.  And  the  generality  are  men  who  qui- 
etly mind  their  bufmefs,  without  giving  themfelves,  or 
you,  any  trouble  on  the  fubjecl.  Very  far  fhouid  I 
have  been  from  writing  thefe  expoftulatory  letters  on 
the  f abject  of  Politics,  if  I  could  have  been  furrerqd 
as  quietly  to  follow  the  bufmefs  of  my  library  and 
my  laboratory,  as  they  do  that  of  their  feveral  profefli- 
ons.  But  to  be  held  out  as  I  have  been  for  feveral  years 
as  a  dangerous  perfon,  on  whom  it  behoves  the  gover- 
nors of  the  country  to  keep  a  watchful  eye,  and  per- 
haps to  have  been  in  a  great  rneafure  the  caufe  of  the 
prevailing  jealoufy  of  foreigners,  and  of  the  laws 
that  are  calculated  to  exclude  them,  has  at  length,  tho* 
with  much  reluctance,  led  me  to  endeavour  to  unde- 
ceive you.  If  I  fucceed  it  will  be  to  your  advantage 
as  well  as  mine.  Jf  not,  things  will  only  remain  as 
they  were  before. 

Admitting 


tt  To  the  Inhabitants 

Admitting  the  objeft  of  our  adverfaries  to  be  a 
proper  one,  I  do  not  fee  that  they  gain  any  advantage 
by  rendering  naturalization  difficult.  It  is  not  a  man's 
being  kept  by  force  in  the  ftate  of  an  alien  that  will 
difpofe  him  to  think  better  of  any  country ;  nor,  if  his 
difpofition  be  hoftile  to  it,  and  he  be  chagrined  by  this 
fufpicion  of  him,  will  it  be  at  all  the  lefs  in  his  power 
to  do  the  mifchief  that  is  apprehended  from  him.  His 
being  an  alien  does  not  prevent  his  fpeaking  or  writing; 
and  by  the  ufeofhis  tongue,  and  his  pen,  he  has  all 
the  influence  that  his  talents  and  activity  can  give  him. 
All  that  you  take  from  him  is  his  capacity  for  enjoy- 
in^  anv  civil  office,  which  a  ftranger,  tho'  naturalized, 
would  not  foon  expect ;  and  his  fingle  vote  for  any 
other  perfon  to  gain  it  is  of  trifling  confequence  among 
many  thoufands. 

If  the  grofs  abufe  from  which  I  have  never  been 
exempted  ever  fiuce  my  arrival  in  this  country  could 
have  rmde  me  an  enemy  to  it  (which  it  by  no  means 
has  done)  was  it  not  in  my  power  to  have  written  in 
yonr  newspapers,  or  to  have  publifhed  political  pam- 
phlets, either  anonyrnoufly,  or  otherwise,  as  I  mould 
h-ive  thought  moil  prudent,  and  by  that  means  have 
don|  as  much  mifchief  as  if  I  had  been  naturalized  ? 

Where,  ti;on,  is  the  wifdom  of  thefe  meafures, 
which  prevent  the  corning  of  valuable  emigrants,  fuch 
as  you  wifh  to  receive,  and  do  not  take  from  thofe  that 
you  i':tl  kj  their  power  of  injuring  you  ?  To  make 
thefe  meafures  of  any  real  ufe  to  thofe  who  are  advo- 
cates for  i  hem,  they  ought  to  have  been  carried  farther. 
Aliens  fhould  not  have  been  allowed  the  ufe  of  pen, 
ink  and  paper;  or  whatever  they  wrote,  fhould  have 
been  lubjecl:  to  the  infpe6lion  of  the  officers  of  go- 
vernment. They  (hould  alfo  have  feen  no  company  but 
in  the  prefence  of  the  fame  officers.  This  being  un- 
derftood,  the  end  would  be  effe&ually  gained,  by  the 
voluntary  retreat  of  all  the  aliens  in  the  country,  and  the 


Of  Northumberland,  &c,  t g 

effe&ual  prevention  of  the  arrival  of  anv  more.  The 
half  meafures  you  now  take  are  calculated  to  do  you 
more  harm  than  good. 

What  you  fee  of  Englifhmen  in  this  place,  you 
may  take  for .granted  is  equally  true  of  thofe  that  are 
fettled  in  other  parts  of  the  continent.  The  generality 
of  them  only  wifh  to  be  quiet;  and  if  they  were  other- 
wife  difpofed,  they  are  in  no  degree  formidable,  and 
the  country  derives  advantage  from  their  capital  and 
their  example,  especially  that  of  the  Englifh  farmers  ; 
and  fuch  men  are  of  the  greateft  importance  in  this 
agricultural  country. 

But  to  find  in  America  the  fame  maxims  of  go- 
vernment, and  the  fame  proceedings,  from  which 
many  of  us  fled  from  Europe,  and  to  be  reproached 
as  difturbers  of  govenment  there,  and  chiefly  becaufc 
we  did  what  the  court  of  England  will  never  forgive  in 
favour  of  liberty  here,  is,  we  own,  a  great  difappqintment 
to  us,  especially  as  we  cannot  now  return.  Had  Dr.  Price 
himfelf,  the  great  friend  of  American  liberty  in  Eng- 
land, or  Dr.  Wren,  with  both  of  whom  I  zealoufly 
acled  in  behalf  of  your  prifoners,  who  mufl  otherwise 
have  flarved,  and  in  every  other  way  in  which  we  could 
iafely  ferve  your  caufe,  becaufe  we  thought  it  the  caufe 
of  liberty  and  juftice,  againit  tyranny  and  opprejfion  ; 
I  fay,  had  either  of  thefe  zealous,  and  aftive,  and  cer- 
tainly, difenterefled,  friends  of  America  been  now  liv- 
ing, they  would  not  have  been  more  welcome  here 
than  myfelf ;  and  they  would  have  held  up  their  hands 
with  aftonifhment  to  fee  many  of  the  old  tories,  the 
avowed  enemies  of  your  revolution,  in  greater  favour 
than  themfelves.  If  in  this  you  ad  on  the  ehriftian 
principle  of  forgiving  and  loving  your  enemies,  for  which, 
if  they  repent,  you  are  to  be  commended,  you  mould 
not  forget  your  obligations  to  old  and  Heady  friends. 

The  emigrants  you  wifh  to  exclude  are  thofe  who 
might  reafonabiy  exped  to  be  the  beft  received  here, 

as 


24  To  the  Inhabitants 

as  moft  likely  to  be  attached  to  your  government ;  be- 
caufeit  is  free  from  every  thing  that  they  complain  of 
at  home.  Finding  here  no  hereditary  honours  or  pow- 
ers, no  church  efrablifhment,  few  taxes,  and  thole  laid 
by  the  reprefentatives of  the  people,  freely  chofen,  what 
could  lead  to  a  fufpicion  thatperfons  flying  fro-n  what 
was  in  all  refpe&s  the  reverfe  of  this  in  Europe  mould 
not  be  the  beft  friends  to  the  government  here  ? 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XII. 

Of  the  Policy  of  America  with  Refpecl,  to  Foreign  Na- 
tions 

My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

Having  taken  the  liberty  in  the  pre- 
ceding letters  to  arraign  the  wifdom  of  fome  of  the  late 
meafures  of  your  government  with  refpect  to  your  home 
concerns,  I  mail  proceed  with  the  fame,  I  hope  not  of- 
fenfive,  freedom,  to  fay  what  I  think  of  your  conduct 
to  wards  foreign  nations-,  and  with  refpecl;  to  them  I  am 
of  opinion  that  you  have  done  what  your  interefl  re- 
quired you  not  to  have  done. 

While  an  alliance  fubfifted  between  this  country 
and  France,  which  had  given  you  material  afliflance  in 
aliening  your  independence,  a  treaty  of  amity  as  well 
as  of  commerce  and  navigation,  fhould  not,  I  think, 
have  been  made  with  England  without  the  knowledge, 
if  not  the  concurrence,  of  the  French  government. 
And  this  being  done  while  thofe  countries  were  in  a 

(late 


Of  Northumberland,   G?c.  25 

flate  of  war,  could  not  fail  to  give  umbrage  to  France, 
efpecially  as  your  ambaflador,  who  negotiated  the  trea- 
ty, was  oftenfibly  fent  for  a  very  different  purpofe,  viz. 
to  demand  fatisfaction  for  injuries  received  from  En- 
gland. In  this  proceeding  I  fee  nothing  of  the  fair- 
nefs  and  opennefs  that  I  ihould  have  expected  from  a 
republican  government. 

The  French  government,  however,  refented  this 
conduct  more  than  reafon  and  true  policy  required  ;  and 
tho'  it  might  be  expecled  that,  if  friendfhip  was  really  in- 
tended, a  perfon  fuppofed  to  be  friendly  to  them  would 
have  been  fent  to  negotiate  with  them,  they  had  no 
right  to  rejecl;  any  perions  in  whom  this  country  put 
confidence. 

The  French  government,  alfo,  following  the  ex- 
ample of  England,  was  much  to  be  blamed  for  their 
conduct  to  this  country,  and  the  neutral  nations  in 
general.  And  when  your  coafls  were  infulted,  and 
your  vefTels  captured  almoft  in  the  mouth  of  your 
harbours,  you  did  right,  I  think,  to  protect  your  pro- 
perty, and  repel  that  violent  aggreflion.  But  this  might 
have  been  done  without  making  it  a  national  quarrel, 
by  allowing  the  merchants, to  defend  their  property, 
which  they  would  have  done  at  no  great  expence  ;  and 
this  would  have  been  defrayed  in  the  bed  manner  by 
an  advance  of  the  price  of  their  goods.  But  to  build 
navies,  and  efpecially  to  raife  (landing  armies,  on  ac- 
count of  any  apprehenfion  you  could  reafonably  have 
from  France,  a  country  fo  diflant,  and  which  could 
not  have  any  imaginable  motive  for  quarrelling  .with 
you,  was,  in  my  opinion,  the  wildefl  policy,  and  put- 
ting the  country  to  a  great  expence  for  nothing,  if  not 
worie  than  nothing.  For  one  writer  on  the  fide  of 
your  government  in  the  Philadelphia  Gazette  for  Oc- 
tober 19,  fays  that  the  army  was  intended  to  overaw,  or 
fupprefs,  the  democrats.  If  this  be  true  (and  this  wri- 
ter has  better  means  of  information  than  I  have)  it  is  a 

D  declaration 


s6  To  tfie  Inhabitants 

declaration  of  war  againfl  thofc  who  difapprove  the 
late  meafures.* 

Tho'  I  honour  your  Prefident  for  his  frank  and 
open  conduft,  the  reverfe  of  that  of  the  crafty  politici- 
an, which  I  confider  as  on-  of  the  mod  ietellible  of 
human  charaftcrs,  I  could  not  approve  of  his  unne- 
celfary  and  inceilant,  not  to  fay  unjuft,  invectivt-s  a^a::ift 
the  French  government.  It  was  in  my  opinion,  un- 
becoming a  wife  ftatefman.  and  rnuft  render  a  recvn- 
cileation  with  France  which  is  certainly  a  very  ddira- 
ble  object)  more  difficult  than  it  would  otherwise  be, 
during  his  prefidency ;  unlefs  the  French  directory 
have  more  temper  and  prudence  than  we  can  reafona- 
bly  expect. 

All  this,  you  will  fay,  is  nothing  more  than  com- 
mon place  party  politics.  But  if  I  have  nothing  bet- 
ter, what  muft  I  fay  ?  You  wifh  I  fuppofe,  to  know 

my 

*  The  writer  of  this  remarkable  paper  fays  "  Though 
France  or  Rigaud  mould  not  invade  us,  we  h.ive,  nevcrthelefs, 
all  the  hoft  of  internal  enemies  to  ktcj,  down.  What  can  do 
it  fo  effectually  as  a  good  body  of  troops  ?  --  Jo  keep  thieves 
off,  have  a  gun  or  a  fword  at  your  bed  fide  To  keep  trai- 
tors, united  Iriihmen,  and  Frenchmen  in  awe,  have  fume 
troops  ready  to  repel  the  firft  invaders,  to  crulh  the  firft  ri- 
fings  and  ftditions.  An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  tun 
of  remedy  " 

"  Military  force,  they  tell  us,  is  fometimes  abufed.  What 
power  is  not  ?  Civil  power  certainly  is.  But  a  military  force 
mor«  frequently  turns  agair.ft  its  employers  than  it  betrays  or 
repreflcs  liberty.  That  is,  indeed,  a  ilrong  argument  againft 
iifrig  it.  But  remote  dangers  arc  to  be  difregarded  when 
greater  are  imminent.  Jacobins  are  to  be  kept  out  of  the  ar- 
my ,  and  militia.  Government  muft  ufe  its  bcft  courage  and 
vigilence.'' 

"  Plain  truth,  like  this,  is  not  to  be  expected  from  men  in 
Congrcfs,  or  general  courts.  Thit  is  no  good  reafon  v.  hy  it 
fhould  not  be  told  by  other  honcft  men,  nor  why  honeft  men 
foould  reea  it." 


Of  Northumberland,   &c.  27 

rny  fentiments,  and  they  are  fuch  as  I  have  to  offer  on 
a  iu- jVct  which  has  , imitated  the  minds  of  all  the  citi- 
zens of  the  Ui«ud  Slates.  However,  I  fhall  now 
proceed  to  c.-blt  Canons  that  are  not  fo  very  trite,  and 
indeed  almoft  pecmiar  to  fnyfelf. 

If  any  country  in  the  world  was  fo  fituated  as 
to  he  capable  of  deriving  advantage  from  all  r.»\n  ns.  and 
of  receiving  injury  from  nonr  ot  them,  it  is  lurely  this. 
The  nan ve  Indians  being  out  of  the  qirrftion,  as  hav- 
ing no  power  to  hurt  you.  all  (hat  you  can  have  in  con- 
templation are  the  feveral  powers  of  Europe,  generally, 
and  efpecially  at  this  time,  in  a  Rate  of  war  with  each 
other.  But  as  it  is  the  ir.tereft  of  them  all  to  be  upon 
good  terms  with  this  country,  it  is  very  ealy  for  this 
country  to  be  upon  good  terms  with  them,  without 
taking  any  part  in  their  quarrels. 

As  this  nation  wants  no  territory  belonging  either 
to  France  or  England,  the  two  great  rival  nations  of 
Europe,  and  they  have  novifihle  intereft  in  coveting 
any  thing  belonging  to  this,  no  natural  caufe  of  hofti- 
lity  can  exift  with  refpe£l  to  either  of  them.  Every 
poflible  difference  mufl  relate  to  commercial  inrer- 
courfe.  But  if  regard  to  profit  and  lofs  be  the  leading 

principle 

I,  as  a  democrat,  and  an  enemy  to  /landing  armies,  *hank 
the  writer  of  this  paper,  and  alfo  the  perfon  who  introduced 
the  extracts  from  ir  into  the  Northumberland  Gazttte  of 
Nov  9,  for  this  frank  communication.  When  perfons  in  of- 
fice will  not,  as  this  writer  fays,  fpeak  out,  and  tell  their 
whole  meaning,  we  are  o  liged  to  their  friends  for  doingitfor 
them.  I  wi(h  this  paper  may  be  copied  into  every  Newfpa- 
per  in  the  United  States  j  as  I  am  confident  it  would  do  more 
towards  opening  the  eyes  of  the  people  with  reipect  to  the  late 
meafures  of  the  government,  than  all  our  writing.  And  if 
this  be  done,  there  wiil  be  nothing  to  apprehend  either  from 
fedition  lawe,  tr  Handing  armies-  The  ralifman  will  be  bro- 
ken, and  the  caftie,  with  all  its  terrific  apparatus,  will  vanifh 
at  once. 


28  To  the    Inhabitants 

principle  in  all  tranfaftions  of  a  commercial  nature, 
the  protection  of  commerce  can  never  be  a  juflifiable 
caufe  of  war;  becau.U-,  whatever  be  the  iffue  of  nation- 
al iioftility,  the  lofs  muft  far/exceed  the  amount  of  all 
th  poffible  gain.  It  is  the  part  of  wifdom,  therefore, 
to  bear  a  fmalier  lofs,  rather  than  endeavour  to  repair  it, 
with  the  certainty  of  incurring  a  greater. 

As  to  mere  infults,  there  isrmore  dignity  in  dif- 
pifing*than  in  refentmg  them.  No  expreflion  of  con- 
tempt can  jufiify  a  war  between  nations,  any  more  than 
it  will  juftify  duels  between  individuals.  In  both  cafes 
alike  it  is  the  conduct  of  men  governed  by  paffion  rather 
than  by  reafon,  by  a  principle  of  falfe  honor,  rather  than 
the  true  one. 

All  the  intercourfe  you  can  want  with  any  foreign 
nation  is,  as  I  have  obierved,  a  commercial  one  ;  and 
the  idea  of  commerce  is  very  fimple.  It  ccnfiits  in 
nothing  more  than  the  exchange  of  one  commodity  for 
another.  If  any  thing  that  you  have  be  of  lefs  value 
to  you  th  to  a  foreign  nation,  and  any  thing  that 

they  have  be  of  more  value  to  you  than  it  is  to  them, 
it  is  for  the  benefit  of  both  countries  to  exchange  the 
one  for  the  other.  But  the  means,  or  the  mode,  in 
which  this  exchange  is  made  is  not  the  commerce.  A 
third  nation  might  be  the  carrier  of  the  different  com- 
modities from  the  one  to  the  other. 

If  the  merchants  of  either  of  the  two  countries  un- 
dertake this  bufi.nels,  it  is  foreign  to  what  is  properly 
their  own  ;  and  if,  in  any  fituation  of  national  affairs, 
there  be  peculiar  hazard  in  this  bufinefs,  thofe  who  un- 
dertake it  ought  to  lay  their  account  with  that  hazard  be- 
fore they  engage  in  it,  as  perfons  who  undertake  any  o- 
ther  kind  of  bufinefs  do  with  refpeft  to  theirs.  And 
whatever  lofs  is  incurred  by  it,  it  will  not  fall  upon  them, 
but  upon  their  cuftomers.  For  in  all  cafes  the  confu- 
mer  is  the  pcrfon  who  pays  every  cxpence  attending 


Of  Northumberland,   &c.  29 

the  railing,  or  the  tranfport,  of  the  commodity  that  he 
purchafes. 

If  any  number  of  perfons  enfure  the  fafety  of  mips 
at  fea,  they  expe£l  to  be  gainers  by  that  undertaking, 
as  well  as  the  merchant  by  his,  or  the  farmer  by  his  ; 
and  the  merchant  will  not  fail  to  charge  the  price  of  the 
infurance  to  his  cuftomers.  Is  it  not  far  better,  then,  to 
let  things  go  on  in  this  natural  train,  in  which  the  on- 
ly inconvenience  is  that,  during  this  flate  of  things,  the 
confumer  will  pay  a  little  more  than  ufual  for  his  com- 
modity, than  to  defend  this  particular  branch  of  bufi- 
neis  by  involving  the  nation  in  a  war  ? 

^Exclufiveof  all  coniideration  of  the  horrors  of 
war,  to  which  flatcfmen  in  general  give  little  attention, 
it  were  far  better,  that  is,  far  lefs  expenfive,  for  the  nati- 
on to  pay  for  all  the  lots  by  a  direct  tax  ;  but  much  bet- 
ter (till,  if  the  nfk  of  lofs  be  very  great,  to  fufpend  that 
branch  of  bufinefs  altogether.  Others,  who  can  do  it 
at  a  lefs  nfk,  will  be  ready  enough  to  undertake  it;  and 
the  competition  of  nations,  and  ot  merchants,  is  fuch, 
that  the  country  will  be  lerved  as  well,  and  as  cheaply, 
as  the  flate  of  things  will  bear.  While  the  lea  remains 
open  to  all  nations,  we  need  not  fear  wanting  anything 
that  other  nations  can  fupply  us  with.  Allowing  this 
to  be  an  evil,  or  an  undeiirable  flate  of  things,  it  can- 
not be  of  any  long  continuance.  After  this  things  will 
return  to  their  natural  flate,  and  the  merchants  may  un- 
dertake the  carrying  trade,  in  addition  to  their  proper 
bufinefs,  as  before. 

But  if  navies  mufl  be  built  and  manned  for  the  fake 
of  protecting  this  particular  branch  of  bufinefs,  and 
what  is  a  neceffary  confequence,  if  hoflilities  muft  be 
engaged  in  firfl  at  fea,  and  then  by  land  ;  and  if  ambafTa- 
dors  muft  be  maintained  at  foreign  courts,  which  is  ano- 
ther confequence  of  the  fame  fyftem,  for  one  dollar  that 
the  former  fyftem  would  require,[this  will  require  a  thou- 
iand,  to  fay  nothing  of  the  intricacy  of  foreign  politics, 

and 


30  To  the 'Inhabitants 

and  the  lives  that  will  be  loft  in  war.  The  kingdom  of 
China  acts  upon  the  fyftern  that  I  wifh  to  recommend. 
That  country  has  an  extcnfive  commerce  with  all  the 
world,  but  it  employs  few  mips  of  its  own,  it  has  no  re- 
lident  ambafTaclor  at  any  foreign  court,  and  it  has  no 
wars  on  account  of  commerce. 

The  merchant,  or  rather  the  carrier  of  merchandize 
from  port  to  port,  will  fay,  that  as  he  follows  a  lawful 
occupation,  he  ought  to  be  protected  in  it.  But  then  c- 
very  other  perfon  whofe  occupation  is  lawful  has  the 
fame  plea  for  a  reimburfement  of  his  loffcs  ;  for  exam- 
ple the  farmer,  the  manufaclurer,  &c.  Do  they  not  all 
lay  their  account  with  the  accidents  to  which  their  feve- 
ral  profc-ffions  are  liable,  and  charge  their  cuftomers  ac- 
cordingly. 

It  the  farmer  fhould  apply  to  Congrefs  for  indem- 
nification of  his  loffes  by  florins,  drought,  or  infers, 
would  he  not  be  told  that  he  knew  his  undertaking  to 
be  fubjecl  to  all  thofe  accidents,  that  it  was  his  bufi- 
aefs,  and  not  theirs,  to  guard  againft  them  as  well  as 
he  could,  and  that  he  might  indemnify  himfelf  by  the 
advanced  prices  of  fuch  produces  as  he  was  able  to 
raife  ?  And  mould  not  the  fhipper  of  goods,  and  the 
infurers,  be  content  with  a  fimilar  anfwer  to  their  com- 
plaints, whether  of  loffes  by  pirates,  privateers  of  other 
nations,  &c.  &c.  as  well  as  by  fhipwrecks.  All  thefe 
fhould  be  equally  confidered  as  accidents,  to  which,  in 
a  particular  flate  of  things,  they  knew  their  undertak- 
ing to  be  liable,  as  much  as  the  farmer  was  apprized  of 
the  danger  of  bad  feafons. 

They  might  farther  be  told,  that  it  would  be  the  ex- 
treme of  folly,  and  injuflice,  in  the  rcprefentatives  of 
the  nation,  to  involve  it  in  a  ftate  of  war,  for  the 
recovery  of  any  fum  they  could  have  lofl  by  the  cer- 
tain expenditure  of  a  hundred  times  as  much,  befides 
hazarding  the  fafety  of  the  whole  ftate. 

A  nation  conducting  its  affairs  on  thefe  maxims, 

defending 


Of  Northumberland,  &c,  $i 

defending  its  territory  by  a  well  difciplined  tniWi.  re- 
monflrating  agairift  injuries  from  other  narior^  out 
never  revenging  them,  and  withal  acling  jaliiy  and 
generoufly  on  ail  occ*i(ions.  could  n<»t  tail  t->  br  ref- 
pefted.  and  would  not  be  fubjetl  to  many  infuits.  It 
would  inture  the  invaluable  blelling  of  peace.  It  would 
employ  its  hands,  and  its  capital,  in  the  improve  m  it 
of  the  country,  in  making  bridges,  roads,  and  navi- 
gable canals,  in  encouraging  fcience,  agriculture,  and 
manufactures.  It  would  contract  no  debts,  and  have 
occafion  for  few  taxes;  and  therefore  could  not  fail  to 
flurifh  more  than  any  country  has  ever  yet  done. 

When  I  once  took  the  liberty  to  throw  out  thefe 
hints  to  the  Preiident,  to  whom  they  were  not  new,  he 
quoted  the  authority  of  fome  perfon  which  I  do  not  re- 
collecl;,  who  faid  that  "  a  nation  that  could  aft  on  fuch 
"  maxims  would  command  the  world !"  I  doubt 
not  it  foon  would ;  and  there  is  a  nation  now  under 
the  discipline  of  providence  de (lined  for  this  great 
purpofe.  It  is  to  govern  the  world  in  peace,  when 
nation  will  no  more  rife  up  againjl  nation,  and  when 
they  will  learn  war  no  more.  This  happy  Hate  of  things 
is  difiinftly  announced  in  the  prophecies  of  fcripturc, 
fo  that  no  chriftian  can  have  any  doubt  withrefpecl;  to 
it ;  and  the  prefent  appearance  of  things  in  the  old 
world  is  fuch  as  leads  me  to  expect  that  it  will  take  place 
at  no  very  great  diflance  of  time.  It  is,  however,  accor- 
ding to  the  fame  prophecies,  to  bepieeeded  by  a  feafon  of 
uncommon  calamity  fuch  as  there  never  was  fines  there 
was  a  nation  (Dan  xii,  i)  andefpecially  by  the  de- 
finition ot  men  in  war,  which  we  now  fee  abundant- 
ly verified,  but  the  final  iflue  is  to  be  moft  glorious 
and  happy.  It  will  be  what  is  in  the  prophecies  called 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  a  ftate  of  right eoufnefs  and  peace. 
With  refpecl;  to  this,  I  faid  fome  years  ago,  what  I 
lhall  repeat,  and  conclude  with  now.  "  May  this  king- 
"  dom  of  God,  and  of  Chrift,  that  which  I  conceive 

44  to 


02  To  the  Inhabitants 

"  to  be  intended  in  the  Lord's  prayer,  fully  come,  tho' 
"  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  be  removed  to  make 
"  way  for  it." 

Hoping  to  have  no  occafion  to  trouble  you  with 
any  more  Letters  of  this  kind,  I  am,  with  my  wifhes 
and.  prayers  for  your  temporal  and  eternal  welfare, 

My  Friends  and  Neighbours, 

Yours  fincerely, 

J.  PRIESTLEY, 


P.  S.  Finding  that  it  is  generally  reported  among 
thofe  who  call  themfelves  Federalijls,  that  Mr.  Coo- 
per writes  as  prompted,  or  fupported,  by  me,  I  think 
it  right  to  obferve,  that  they  who  believe  this  know  no- 
thing of  Mr.  Cooper,  or  of  me.  Every  thing  that  he 
has  written  has  been  wholly  independent  of  me.  He 
is  not  a  man  that  requires  to  be  prompted,  or  fupport- 
ed, by  any  perfon.  Tho*  I  was  frequently  in  his  com- 
pany during  the  publication  of  his  Effays,  I  never  faw 
one  of  them,  nor  do  I  diftinftly  recollect  even  hearing 
him  mention  the  fubje6t  of  any  of  them,  before  their 
publication. 


Maxims 


MAXIMS 

O    F 

POLITICAL  ARITHMETIC, 

APPLIED  TO  THE  CASE  OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES  of  AMERICA. 


Firft  publijlied  in  the  AURORA  for  FEBRUARY  26 
and  27,   1798.* 

(By  a  QUAKER  in  Politics.) 


AN  idea  of  the  true  interefls  of  any 
country  is  perhaps  molt  eafily  formed  by  fuppofing  it 
to  be  the  property  of  one  perfon,  who  would  naturally 
wifh  to  derive  the  greateft  advantage  from  it,  and  who 
would  therefore,  lay  out  his  capital  in  fuch  a  manner 
as  to. make  it  .the  moil  productive  to  him.  An  atten- 
tion to  fcparate  and  difcordant  interefls  of  different 
claiTes  of  men,  is  apt  to  diftracl  the  mind:  but  when 
all  the  people  arp  considered  as  members  of  one  family, 
who  can  bedifpofed  of,  and  employed,  as  the  head  of  it 
ihall  direct,  for  the  common  benefit,  that  caufe  of  em- 
barraffrnent  is  removed.  . 

To  derive  the  greateft  advantage  from  any  coun- 
try it  will   be  neceitary  that  attention  be  paid,  in  the 

E  firft 

*  §ome  of  the  leading  lentiments  in  this  paper  are  the  fame 
with  thofe  in  the  preceding  Letters  :  but  they  could  not  well 
J?e  left  out,  and  I  think  them  of  CuUicient  importance  to  be  re- 
peated . 


34  To  the   Inhabitants 

firft  place,  to  the  wants  of  nature,  and  to  raife  from  it, 
in  the  gre^tcR  quantity  and  perfection,  fuch  produ6li- 
ons  as  are  neceifary  to  ferd  and  clothe  the  inhabitants, 
and  to  provide  them  with  habitations,  in  order  to  guard 
them  againft  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  after 
this  fuch  as  are  of  ufe  to  their  more  comfortable  ac- 
commodation, and  the  fupply  of  artificial  wants. 

If  any  country  be  completely  infulated,  or  cut  off 
from  all  communication  with  other  countries,  it  will 
be  necefiaiy  to  raife  all  thofe  articles  within  itfelf ;  but 
when  a  communication  is  opened  with  other  countries, 
the  proprietor  will  do  well  to  give  his  whole  attention 
to  thofe  productions  which  !his  own  country  can  befl 
yield,  and  exchange  the  furplus  for  fuch  articles  as  o- 
ther  countries  can  better  fupply  him  with.  For  by 
that  means,  his  labour  will  be  employed  to  the  moft 
-advantage.  If.  for  example,  it  would  employ  him  a 
month  to  go  thro'  all  the  proceifes  which  are  necefTary 
to  make  a  piece  of  cloth,  when  the  effecl:  of  the  la- 
bour of  a  week  in  his  hufbandry  would  enable  him  to 
purchafe  that  cloth,  it  will  be  better  for  him  to  confine 
himfelf  to  his  hufbandry,  and  buy  his  cloth ;  befides 
that,*  not  making  it  his  fole  bufmefs,  he  would  not,  with 
any  labour,  make  it  fo  well.  And  now  that  a  com- 
munication by  fea  with  all  pans  of  the  world  is  fo  well 
eftabli (lied,  that  it  may  be  depended  upon  that  whate- 
ver any  country  wants  another  can  fupply  it  with,  to 
the  advantage  of  both,  this  exchange  may  be  made  with 
little  interruption,  even  by  war. 

Commerce  confifb  in  the  exchange  of  the  commo- 
dities of  one  country  for  thofe  of  another;  and  as  this, 
like  any  other  bufinefs,  will  be  p^rform^d  to  the  mofl 
advantage  by  perfons  who  give  their  whole  attention  to 
it,  and  who  are  called  Merchants,  it  will  be  moil  con- 
venient, in  general,  that  this  be  done  by  them,  rather 
than  by  thofe  who  employ  themfelves  in  railing  the 
produce.  The  bufinefs  of  conveying  the  produce  of 

©ne 


Of  Northumberland,   &c.  35 

on<*  country  to  another  is  a  different  thing  from  mer- 
c^an-s'ze.  Thofe  who  employ  fhips  for  this  purpofe, 
are  pa/d  for  their  trouble  by  the  freight  of  their  veffels, 
while  the  merchant  fublifls  from  what  he  gains  by  the 
exchange  of  commodities. 

What  is  generally  termed  a&ivc  commerce  is  that 
which  is  carried  on  by  the  natives  of  any  country,  in 
fhips  of  their  own,  conveying  their  produce  to  other 
countries,  and  bringing  back  theirs  in  return  ;  and  that 
is  railed  pajfi've  commerce  which  is  carried  on  at  home, 
people  of  other  countries  bringing  their  commodities, 
and  taking  back  what  they  want  in  exchange  for  them. 
The  quantity  of  proper  commerce,  or  merchandize,  is 
the  fame  in  both  thefe  cafes.  All  the  difference  confifts 
in  the  employment  given  to  the  carriers,  and  the  fhip- 
ping  of  the  different  countries. 

While  the  communication  with  other  countries 
by  fea  is  open,  it  cannot  be  for  the  interefl  of  any 
country,  either  ;o  impofe  duties  on  goods  brought  into 
it,  or  to  give  bounties  on  thofe  that  are  exported  ;  bc- 
caufe,  by  both  thefe  means,  the  people  UR  made  to 
pay  more  than  they  otherwife  would  c:o  for  the  fame 
benefit.  In  both  cafes  the  pnce  of  the  goods  muft  be 
advanced.  He  who  pays  the  duty  will  be  lefundcd  at 
lead,  by  the  perfons  \vho  purchaft  the  commodity,  and 
the  bounty  to  the  vender  mull  be  paid  by  a  tax  on  all 
the  inhabitants. 

It  is,  no  doubt,  the  interefl  of  any  particular  clafs 
of  perfons  to  extend  their  bufmefs.  and  thereby  in- 
creafe  their  gains.  But  if  their  fellow  citizens  pay  more 
in  the  advanced  price  of  what  they  purchafe  than  their 
gain  amounts  to  the  community  is  a  lofer  j  and  if  it 
be  equal,  one  dais  is  made  to  contribute  to  the  main- 
tenance of  anofhtr,  when  all  have  an  equal  natural 
ri^ht  to  the  fruits  of  their  own  labour. 

For  the  fame  reafon,  if,  on  any  account,  the  con- 
veyance of  goods  from  one  country  to  another  be  at- 
tended 


36  To  the  Inhabitants 

tended  \vith  more  lofs  than  gain,  the  perfon  in  whofe 
hands  was  the  property  of  the  whole  would  difconti- 
nue  that  branch  of  bufinefs,,  and  employ  his  capital  in 
ibme  c  ther  way,  or  rather  let  it  remain  unproductive 
than  employ  itrto  a  certain  lofs. 

Thefe  maxims  appear  to  me  to  be  incontroverti- 
ble in  the  abftracl:.  What,  then,  may  be  k-.. rut  from 
them  with  refpeft  to  this  country,  fituated  as  it  now 
is  ? 

Without  enquiring  into  the  canfe,  which  is  no 
part  of  my  objecl,  it  is  a  fad,  that  the  conveyance  of 
goods,  or  the  carrying  trade  of  this  country,  which 
has  generally  been  taken  up  by  the  merchants,  though 
it  is  no  neceffary  branch  of  their  bufmefs,  is  peculiarly 
hazardous,  and  of  courfe,  expenfive.  This  expence 
the  country  at  large  muft  pay,  in  the  advanced  price  of 
the  goods  purchafed.  In  this  {late  of  things  they 
have  alfo  fjunci  it  neceifary  to  fend  ambafladors  to 
diftant  countries,  in  order  to  remove  the  fuppofcd 
ca ufe  of  the  difliculty,  which  is  attended  with  another 
expert.  It  has  ];cwne  been  thought  necdfary  to 
build  fhips  ofv.cn  {or  the  purpofe  of  protecting  this 
carrying  trade;  and  if  this  be  done  to  any  e  fleet,  it 
mull  be  attended  with  much  more  expence. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be  able  to  calculate  the  expence 
occafioned  by  any  of  thefe  circumftances  ;  but  the  a- 
mount  of  all  three,  viz.  the  additional  price  to  the  car- 
rier to  indemnify  him  for  his  rifque,  the  expence  of 
arnbafladors,  and  that  of  fitting  out  fhips  of  war; 
I  cannot  help  thinking  mufl  be  much  more  than 
all  the  profit  that  can  be  derived  from  the  carrying 
f  rade;  and  if  fo,  a  perfon  who  had  the  abfolute  com- 
mand of  all  the  fhipping,  and  all  the  capital  of  the  coun- 
try, would  fee  it  to  be  his  intereft  to  lay  up  his  fhips  for 
the  prefent,  and  make  fome  other  ule  of  his  capital. 
And  as  the  greater!  part  of  the  country  is  as  yet  un- 
cleared, and  there  is  a  great  want  of  roads,  bridges  and 

canals, 


Of  Nor  thumb  er  land,  &c.  37 

canals,  the  ufe  of  which  would  fufficiently  repay  him 
for  any  fums  laid  out  upon  them,  and  they  would  not 
fail  to  contribute  to  the  iiwq|Jfpvement  of  the  country, 
which  I  fuppofe  to  behiseflate,  he  would  naturaliv  h-y 
out  his  fuperfluous  capita!  on  thefe  great  pbjecls.  The 
ex  pence  of  building  one  man  of  war  would  fuffice  to 
make  a  bridge  over  a  river  of  a  conudtrable  ext-.nt,  a>-  } 
(which  ought  to  be  a  feriouf.  confide  ration)  the  mor^ 
labourers  are  much  better  preferred  than  thofe  of  f-  .1- 
men ;  and  efpecially  thofe  of  foldiers. 

Another  great  advantage  attending  this  comiucl  is, 
that  the  country  would  be  in  no  danger  of  quarn  II •  - 
with  any  of  its  mi^M'Ours,  and  thereby  the  bazrtn  f 
war,  which  is  necefTarily  attended  with  incaJculable  evi^, 
phyfical  and  moral,  would  be  avoided.  To  make  tH.s 
cafe  eaiier  to  myfelf,  I  would  coniider  injuries  done  >>y 
other  natons,  in  the  fame  light  as  iolfes  by  hurricanes 
or  earthquakes  :  and  without  indulging  any  refentrru  i  t, 
I  would  repair  the  damage  as  well  as  I  could.  I  would 
not  be  angry  where  anger  could  anfwer  no  good  end. 
If  one  nation  affront  another,  the  people  would  do  beft 
to  take  it  patiently,  and  content  tbemfelv.es  with  making 
remoijftrances.  There  is  the  truefl  dignity  in  this  con- 
,duct ;  and  unprovoked  injuries  would  not  often  b<?  re- 
peated, as  the  injurious  nation  would  foon  find  that  it 
gamed  neither  credit  nor  advantage,  by  fuch  behaviour. 

This  is  the  cafe  with  independent  individuals,  and 
why  fhould  it  be  otherwifc  with  independent  nations  ? 
Rafh  and  hafty  men.  Handing  on  what  they  fancy  to  be 
honour,  are  ever  quarrelling,  and  doing  thcmfelves,  as 
well  as  others,  infinitely  more  mifchief  than  could  pof- 
fibly  arife  from  behaving  with  chriflian  meekneis  and 
forbearance.  In  facl,  they  a£t  like  children,  who  have 
no  command  of  their  paflions,  and  not  like  men,  gov- 
erned by  reafon.  In  this  calculation,  peace  ot  mind, 
which  is  prcferved  by  the  meek,  and  iofl  by  the  quar- 
jelfome,  is  a  very  important  article. 

It 


38  To  the  Inhabitants 

It  will  be  faid.  that  merchants,  having  no  other 
occupation  than  that  of  fending  goods  to  foreign  coun- 
tres,  by  which  then  own  is  benefited,  have  a  right 
to  the  protection  of  their  country.  But  what  is  the  rule 
of  right  in  this,  or  any  other  cafe  ?  It  muft  be  regula- 
ted by  a  regard  to  the  ^ood  of  the  whole  ;  and  if  the 
country  receive  more  injury  than  benefit  by  any  branch 
of  bufinefs,  it  ought  to  be  discontinued  ;  and  thofe  who 
engage  in  any  bulinefs.  fhould  lay  their  account  with 
the  rifque  to  which  it  is  expofed,  as  much  as  the  far- 
mer with  the  rifque  of  bad  feafons,  for  which  his  coun- 
try makes  him  no  indemnification,  though  his  employ- 
ment is  as  beneficial  to  it  as  that  of  the  merchant. 

If,  therefore,  in  thefe  circumftances  of  extraor- 
dinary hazard,  any  perfon  will  fend  his  goods  lo  fea., 
it  fhould  beut  his  own  rifque  ;  and  the  country,  which 
receives  more  injury  than  advantage  from  it,  and  whofe 
peace  is  endangered  by  it,  fhould  not  indemnify  him  for 
any  iofs.  Let  him,  however,  be  fully  apprized  of  this; 
and  if  he  will  perfift  in  doing  as  he  has  done,  the  con- 
fequence  is  to  himfelf,  and  his  country  is  not  implicated 
in  it. 

This  is  a  country  which  wants  nothning  but  peace, 
and  an  attention  to  its  natural  advantages,  to  make  it 
mo  ft  flou  riming  and  refpc&able  ;  and  wanting  the  ma- 
nufactures of  other  countries,  its  friendfhip  will  becourt- 
ed  by  them  all,  on  account  of  the  advantage  they  will 
dc-n\  e  from  an  intercourse  with  it.  Other  countries 
being  fully  peopled,  the  inhabitants  muft  apply  to  ma- 
nuf.-iclures  ;  and  where  can  they  find  fuch  a  market  as 
this  mutt  neceffarily  be  ?  And  on  account  of  the  rival- 
fhip  and  competition  which  there  will  be  among  them, 
the  people  of  this  country  cannot  fail  to  be  ferved  in  the 
cheapen  manner  by  them  all.  This  will  be  indepen- 
dent of  all  their  politics,  with  which  this  country  has 
nothing  to  do.  But,  if  by  endeavouring  to  rival  any 
of  them  in  naval  power  (which  will  only  refemble  the 

frog 


Of  Nor  thuiftber  land,   &c,  29 

frog  in  the  fable  endeavouring  to  fwell  itfelf  to  the 
fizc  of  the  ox)  it  excites  their  jealoufy,  and  this  country 
fliould  join  any  one  of  them  a^aiuft  any  other,  it  will  cer- 
tainly no?  only  lofe  the  advantage  it  might  derive  from 
the  trade  of  that  country,  but  pay  dearly  for  its  folly, 
by  the  evils  of  a  (late  of  warfare. 

What  feems  to  be  more  particularly  impolitic  in 
this  country,  as  ill  fairing  the  ftate  of  it,  is  the  duty  on 
the  importation  of  books,  which  are  fo  much  wanted, 
and  which  even  great  encouragement  could  not  produce 
here.  Is  it  at  all  probable  that  furh  works  as  the  Greek 
and  Latin  dallies,  thofe  of  the  chnftian  Fathers,  the 
Polyglott  Bible,  the  Philofophical  Transitions,  or  rhe 
Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  &c.  &c.  wii.1, 
in  the  time  of  our  great  grand  children  be  printed  in 
the  United  States  ?  and  yet  there  is  a  heavy  duty  on 
their  importation  ;  and  for  every  printer,  or  mak.  r  of 
paper  for  printing,  there  are,  no  doubt,  leveral  thou- 
fand  purchafers  of  books,  all  of  whom  are  taxed  for 
their  advantage.  In  thefe  circum (lances,  it  were  fure- 
ly  better  to  have  more  cultivators  of  the  ground,  and 
fewer  printers. 

When  I  fee  at  what  expence  ambaffadors  are  fcnt 
to  foreign  and  diftant  countries,  with  which  this  coun- 
try has  little  or  no  intercourfe  ;  and  when  it  is  very 
problematical  whether  in  any  cafe,  they  have  not  done 
more  harm  than  good,  and  think  what  folid  advantage, 
might  be  derived  from  half  the  expence  in  fending  out 
men  of  fcience  for  the  purpofe  of  purchaling  works  of 
literature  and  philofophical  inftruments,  of  which  all 
the  univerfities  and  colleges  of  this  country  are  moil 
difgracefullydeftitute  ;  and  that  the  expence  of  one  of 
the  three  frigates  would  have  fupplied  all  of  them  with 
telefcopes  equal  to  that  of  Dr.  Herfchell,  ani  other 
philofophical  inftruments  in  the  lame  great  ilyle,  to 
the  immortal  honour  of  any  adrnin«ftration,  I  lament 
that  the  progrefs  of  national  wilctom  ihould  be  fo  flow, 

and 


40  To  the  Inhabitants 

and  that  our  country  profits  To  little  by  the  experience 
and  the  follv  of  others.  The  Chiiufe  never  had  reli- 
dfiit  ambaffadors  m  any  country,  and  what  country 
has  flour:  ih -d  more  than  China  ? 

A  foreigner  travelling  in  the  interior  part  of  this 
covinrry.  and  finding  the  want  of  roads,  bridges  and 
inns,  won  icrs  that  things  of  fuch  mariifeft  utility  mould 
nor  h.-ive  ruJ  more  attention  paid  to  them,  wir- 1  ru?  Tees 
th  r  in  at  fums  are  raifed  and  expended  on  objects,  the 
ule  of  which  is  at  beft  very  doubtful.  And  men  of  letters 
c  m  ,,  to  re  fide  here,  find  their  hands  tied  up.  Books 
</  .torture  are  not  to  be  had,  and  philofophical  in- 
i.  i  :its  can  neither  be  made  nor  purchafcd.  Every 
thing  of  the  kind  muft  be  had  from  Europe,  and  pay 
a  duty  on  importation. 

Bat  all  this  may  be  fhort  fighted  fpeculation;  and 
it  may  be,  nay  I  doubt  not  it  is,  better  for  the  world  at 
large,  that  its  progrefs  mould  not  be  fo  rapid  ;  that 
longftate  of  infancy,  childhood  and  folly,  mould  precede 
that  of  manhood  and  true  wifdom  ;  and  that  vices, 
which  will  fp ring  up  in  all  countries,  are  better  check- 
ed by  the  calamities  of  war  than  by  reafon  and  philo- 
fophy. 

It  may  be  the  wife  plan  of  Provideace,  by  means 
of  the  folly  of  man,  to  involve  this  country  in  the  vor- 
tex of  European  politics,  and  the  mifery  of  European 
wars ;  and  to  prevent  the  importation  of  the  means  of 
knowledge  till  a  better  ufe  would  be  made  of  them. 
Nations  make  flower  advances  in  wifdom  than  indi- 
vidual men,  in  fome  'proportion  to  their  longer  du- 
ration. But  what  they  acquire  at  a  greater  expence, 
they  retain  better;  fo  that,  I  doubt  not,  there  is  much 
wifdom  in  that  part  of  the  general  conftitution  of  things. 
A  ilranger  is  apt  to  wonder-that  political  animofi- 
ty  mould  have  got  to  fo  great  a  height  in  this  country, 
when  all  were  fo  lately  united  in  their  contefl  with  a 
common  enemy  ;  and  that  their  enmity,  which  cannot 

be 


Of  Northumberland,  &c.  41 

be  of  long  (landing,  fhould  be  as  inveterate  as  in  the  old- 
eft  countries,  where  parties  have  fubfifted  time  imme- 
morial. But  it  may  be  the  delign  of  Providence,  by 
this  means,  to  divide  this  widely  extended  country  into 
fmaller  States,  which  mail  be  at  war  with  each  other, 
that  by  their  common  fufferings  their  common  vices  may 
be  corrected,  and  thus  lay  a  foundation  for  ihe  folid  ac- 
quifition  of  wifdom  ;  which  will  be  more  valued  in  con- 
fequerice  of  having  been  more  dearly  bought,  in  iome 
future  age. 

Divided  as  the  people  of  this  country  are,  fome  in 
favour  of  France,  and  others  of  England,  I  fhould  not 
much  wonder,  if  the  decifion  of  the  government  in  fa- 
vour of  either  of  them  fhould  be  the  caufe  of  a  civil 
war.  But  even  this,  the  moft  calamitous  of  all  events, 
would  promote  a  greater  agitation  of  men's  minds,  and 
be  a  more  effectual  check  to  the  progrefs  of  luxury,  vice, 
and  folly,  than  any  other  mode  of  difcipline,  and  at 
the  fame  time  that  it  will  evince  the  folly  of  man,  may 
difplay  the  wifdom  of  Him  that  ruleth  in  the  kingdoms 
of  men,  arid  who  appoints  for  all  nations  fuch  govern- 
ments, and  fuch  governors,  as  their  ftate,  and  that  of 
other  countries  connected  with  them,  really  requires. 
Pharaoh  occupied  as  important  a  flation  in  the  plan  of 
Divine  Providence,  as  king  David,  though  called  a  man 
after  God's  own  heart.  For  his  wife  and  excellent  pur- 
pofes,  one  was  as  neceffary  as  the  other. 

Many  lives,  no  doubt,  will  be  loft  in  war,  civil  or 
foreign  ;  but  men  muft  die ;  and  if  the  deftruclion  of 
one  generation  be  the  means  of  producing  another  which 
fhall  be  wifer  and  better,  the  good  will  exceed  the  evil, 
great  as  it  may  be,  and  greatly  to  be  deplored  as  all  e- 
vils  ought  to  be. 

A  ftranger  naturally  expe&s  to  find  a  greater  fim- 
plicity  of  manners,  and  more  virtue,  in  this  new  coun- 
try, as  it  is  called,  than  in  the  old  ones.  But  a  nearer 
acquaintance  with  it,  will  convince  him,  that  confider- 

ing 


42       To  the  Inhabitants  ?f  Northumberland,  (3c, 

ing  how  eafily  fubfiftence  is  procured  here,  and  confc- 
cj'it :nt!y  how  few  incitements  there  are  to  the  vices  of 
th  loi  r  claims  efpecially,  there  is  lefs  virtue  as  well  as 
)  k'nb  jojge,  than  in  moft  of  the  countries  of  Eu- 
rope. In  many  parts  of  the  United  States  there  is  al- 
fo  leis  religion,  at  leaft  of  a  rational  and  ufeful  kind. 
A'  1  tfbere  there  is  no  fenfe  of  religion,  no  fear  of  God, 
or  refpecl  to  a  future  ftate,  there  will  be  no  good  morals 
that  can  he  depended  upon.  Laws  may  reftrain  the 
exec  fles  ot  vice,  but  they  cannot  impart  the  principles 
of  virtue. 

Infidelity  has  made  great  progrefs  in  France, 
through  all  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  alfo  in  En- 
gland ;  but  I  much  queftion  whether  it  be  not  as  great  in 
America  ;  and  the  want  of  information  in  the  people  at 
large,  makes  thoufands  of  them  the  dupes  of  fuch  mal- 
low writings  as  thofe  of  Mr.  Paine,  and  the  French  un- 
believers, feveral  of  which  are  tranflated  and  publifhed 
here,  and  either  through  want  of  knowledge,  or  of  zeal, 
little  or  nothing  is  done  by  the  friends  of  Revelation,  to 
flop  the  baneful  torrent. 

All  this,  however,  I  doubt  not,  will  appear  to 
have  been  ultimately  for  the  befl.  Let  temperate  and 
wife  men  forwarn  the  country  of  its  danger,  and.  as  they 
are  in  duty  bound,  endeavour  to  prevent,  or  alleviate, 
evils  of  every  kind.  Their  conduct  will  meet  the  ap- 
probation of  the  great  Governor  of  the  univerfe;  and, 
in  all  events,  He,  whofe  will  no  foreign  power  can  con- 
trol, being  the  true  and  benevolent  parent  of  all  the  hu- 
man  race,  will  provide  for  the  happinefs  of  his  offspring 
in  the  moft  effectual  manner,  though,  to  our  imperfect 
imderftanding,  the  fteps  which  lead  to  it  be  incompre- 
henfible.  We  mud  not  do  evil  that  good  may  come, 
becaufe  our  understanding  is  finite,  and  therefore  we 
cannot  be  fure  that  the  good  we  intend  will  come.  But 
the  Divine  Being,  whofe  fore  fight  is  unerring,  continual- 
ly acts  upon  that  maxim,  and,  as  we  fee?  to  the  great- 
efl  advantage. 


The    CONTENTS, 


LETTER  VIII. 

Of  the  Innocence  and  Advantage  of  the  free  Difcuf- 
fion  of  all  Political  Subjt&s.  Page  3 

LETTER  IX. 

Of  Improvements  in  the-  Conjlitution  of  the  United 
States.  -  -  8 

LETTER  X. 

Of  Infringements  of  the  Conjlitution  ly  the  atts  of 
Congrefs  tffpefting  the  Regulation  of  Commerce, 

the  Pcwfr  ••/'  making  Peace  and  War,  and  Ref- 
trifiions  of  the  Freedom  of  Speech  and  of  the  Prefs.     j  4 

LETTER    XL 

Of  the  Laws  relating  to  Aliens,  and  the  Naturaliza- 
tion of  Foreigners.  20 

LETTER  XII. 

Of  the  Policy  of  America  with  Refpett  to  Foreign 
Nations.  2 


Maxims  of  Political  Arithmetic,  applied  to  the  cafe 
of  the  United  States  of  Am-erica.  '  Firfl  publijh- 
ed  in  the  Aurora,  for  February  26  and  27,  1798.  33 


M180811 

£33 


B 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


